


My Path is Worn

by Manager_K



Series: DROWNINNIT DADINNITAU [1]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Awesamdude - Freeform, Clay | Dream - Freeform, Fox Hybrid Floris | Fundy, Ghost Wilbur Soot, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), LETS GOOOOOO, Lonely TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Floris | Fundy, Mentioned Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Older Sibling Wilbur Soot, Older Siblings Wilber Soot and Technoblade, Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ph1lzaMinecraft - Freeform, Protective Sam | Awesamdude, Ram Hybrid Toby Smith | Tubbo, TommyInnit - Freeform, TommyInnit Is A Father, Tommyinnit is free, Traumatized Tommyinnit (Video Blogging RPF), Tubbo - Freeform, Twins Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, dreamwastaken - Freeform, philza - Freeform, please do not berate me, yes I am using oc’s
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29619708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manager_K/pseuds/Manager_K
Summary: Tommyinnit runs, he runs until he physically cannot. He has to get away from Dream, from everyone.OR Tommyinnit runs away after Dream blows up logstedshire, and he picks up some gremlin kids
Series: DROWNINNIT DADINNITAU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2176257
Comments: 135
Kudos: 491





	1. Everything leads home

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Half A Decade Inbetween](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29073360) by [herewandering](https://archiveofourown.org/users/herewandering/pseuds/herewandering). 



> YOOOOOO, idk I was really in love with @herewandering ‘s Fic about Dadinnit and wanted to write my own!!!! If it sucks that’s your problem and not mine because I had fun writing it

He had never meant to run this far, had never expected to lose all he had made for himself. He was so scared though, his heart beat too fast and his brain could only find one solution.

Run.

It was days of endless running, his body barely functioning on adrenaline and fear. Just the constant sound of him smashing through foliage, going in a single direction with no set destination in mind.

Tommy rested only twice, out of pure exhaustion and his body demanding for rest. He got only fitful minutes of sleep, every time his eyes closed all he could see was Dream and could feel the phantom feeling of shrapnel tearing into his skin.

Maybe it was actually the shrapnel that he hadn’t bothered to check on.

At least he didn’t cry, he was too strong to cry. 

Then he ran again, and again, and again. More running on empty with the hopes that Dream wasn’t going to come after him, but he could have sworn there was a flash of unnatural green in the corner of his vision every time he brushed up against a bush.

He finally stopped when he made it to a beach with a horizon that seemed to stretch on into nothing. Tommy collapses there, hands gripping at nothing as the waves seem to laugh at him. 

He laughs back. Something aching and full bodied, something so loud he surprises himself. He lived, maybe broken and worn beyond repair, but he ran and he lived. It feels like he’s challenging God, living after everything that’s happened.

Tommy cries then, only few tears as he listens to his communicator buzz with messages he refuses to answer. 

“Fuck you! Fuck you, I fucking win!”

Of course he realizes he had only gotten away by the skin of his teeth, but he screams and cries until he can’t anymore, and his chest is full of victory and something prideful.

He rests finally, for the first time in a week, and he’s lucky enough to dream of nothing, falling asleep to the gentle sound of wind and waves that are almost shy, ashamed of laughing at him before.

Tommy is not dangerous, not now anyway. 

When he wakes up however, he is no longer the little cub Wilbur had taken care of in years past, he is angry and a lion with teeth too sharp for his own good.

Even if he is malnourished and possibly riddled with infection, he thinks he feels like a lion.

He somehow manages to make a boat, which is barely considered a boat and more of a raft, gathers meager wooden tools and tries to chase down beach pigs. Tommy only catches three.

Its very on brand of him to pass out a few days into his little trip across what seems to be an endless expanse of sea. 

He can smell the infection rotting his body, can feel vaguely the way his body aches something fierce. He wishes he had listened more to Techno about how to dress wounds when he was a child. 

It really only becomes worse, he can barely eat anything due to nausea that doesn’t just come from the rocking of his boat. Then the fever comes and his brain feels like it’s going to leak out of his ears. He has the bright idea to dip his head in freezing cold water, which only helps until he realizes his fever might be getting even worse.

Tommy slips in and out of consciousness, maybe it’s been a few more days, maybe it’s been hours. He feels restless but can’t move if he wanted to. Would probably jump into the water to drown if he had any strength to do so.

“Get up.”

Words? A human, a living breathing person? Tommy somehow cracks an eye open, just to check. No one is there, he’s still in the middle of a never ending sea, drifting off to his eventual death.

“Tommyinnit if you do not get up, I will turn this boat upside down.”

There it is again, and this time he forces himself to sit up and actually check his surroundings. It feels worse than being stabbed, the pain that comes with the straightening of his spine, but it’s worth the feeling of a hand stroking his head.

No one is there when he tilts his head up, just some blue sky and clouds.

He lays back down after that, and the voice doesn’t come back to yell at him. He’s depressed because he swears it sounded like his brother. 

“You’re dead asshole, stop haunting me.”

”Yeah I’m dead, get up.”

Tommy’s eyes shoot open at that, once again forcing himself to get up, groaning at the effort it takes.

”You stupid bitch,” he whispers hoarsely, bringing a hand up to his chest to cradle a wound that had reopened, “I hate you, let me die.”

He gets no response, and decides to lay down again. 

“Get up.”

”Oh fuck off!”

Tommy decides to sit upright from then on, and it takes all of his brainpower to not give in to what he assumes to be death. 

“I miss you, you stupid bitch.”

”I know.”

There still isn’t any spectre in his vision, maybe he’s hallucinating this time. He’s so tired, and everything hurts so much. 

“Keep your eyes open, just watch ahead.”

Tommy doesn’t have the energy to argue with the probable spirit of his brother. He’s sure he looks comical with how much he struggles to keep his eyes open, if he wasn’t bleeding and oozing infection. 

He doesn’t know how long it takes, but eventually the horizon begins to color itself in. No longer is it annoying and boring blue but the stark contrast of green and white.

A mountain, land. Holy shit, land. Land! Tommy wheezes with some sort of joy, his chest hurts with the rough air that’s squeezed from his lungs.

“Keep your eyes open.”

Oh, they were closed and he hadn’t even realized it. 

When he does open them again the mountain seems to be bigger, and something seems to be approaching his disgrace of a boat.

People, people are coming to get him. If he had anything left in him he would have cried, so instead he dry sobs. He clutches at his chest as he heaves, and leans into the hand he knows has to be his brother.

”Just keep your eyes open Tommy, it’s almost over.”

He can smell the leather of Wilburs jacket, the smell of sandalwood and pineapple, over the choking scent of salt and seawater. It’s comforting.

As the people begin to get closer Tommy thinks about, we’ll he doesn’t think about anything. He has no idea what to do now. Does he run away from the people as soon as he can? Does he stay? What’s there to do from here?

”Oi! You there! Are you alright?” He registers the sounds of people calling for him, and looks to greet them with a smile

”I think I’m dying actually.” 

“Not anymore you’re not!” 

It’s then that Tommy passes out for good. He really hopes that these people are kind enough to help him, and that they won’t know anything about who he is. Given his luck they will, but he prays that everything will end up okay. 

The days blow by slowly, and Tommy dreams of better times. He knows that Wilbur has to be watching over him, his dreams are full of his brother and nothing of that green bastard. He often slips out of them however, to the sound of people milling about outside, can hear them cheering and singing late at night.

And though his body and soul ache he feels free. Tommy has been through so much and he knows that, he knows that he deserves more than he has been given. He plans to take what he deserves.

Wilbur even asks about his plans, during one of his calmer dreams, just a walk through the forest together, the worn and beaten path he recognizes leads back to their childhood home. 

”Where to now Tommy?” 

It’s them when they were younger Tommy realizes, and he feels as if he’s on top of the world when he finds himself on Wilburs shoulders.

But it’s still a dream

”Why did you leave me? I’ve been meaning to ask that for the longest time,” he gives his brother a good whack on the head sending his glasses tumbling to the forest floor, “I’m still so mad at you.”

Tommy can see it, the way Wilbur hesitates before he bends down to grab his glasses, “I know you’re not just a dream idiot.”

It sounds stupid with his child like voice, but it still looks like it hits home for Wilbur.

”I don’t know what you’re talking about, but where are you going to go now?”

Tommy sighs and pulls Wilburs hat onto his own head, “Somewhere far away I guess,”

He wants to cry when he hears Wilbur laugh, he misses him so much more with every dream he has. 

“But you’re already so far away, what about home? Phil and me and Techno will miss you.”

He pulls the beanie down around his ears so he doesn’t have to look at anything, it sucks to have to watch his brother pretend he doesn’t know what really happened.

“Stop talking so weird, it’s annoying.”

”Fine, what about Tubbo?” 

That’s when he wakes up, and he groans both in pain and anger. He swears he can still hear Wilbur laughing and the sound of Techno calling in the distance as he moves to sit up.

He wishes the echo of them was louder.

A few tears fall down his face and his heart breaks just a little more when he realizes that Wilbur isn’t really there to hold him anymore. He feels a little less free, more chained down to the memory of his brother.

Then a door creaks open and a honeyed light fills the room. 

“You’re awake, it’s good to meet you lion cub!”

Through bleary and probably red eyes he peers up at the woman who has just opened the door to his room, and she really does look happy to see him.

He tries to croak out a greeting, laughing when he sounds like broken glass.

This woman is a little too pushy for his tastes though, and she crowds his space a little too much for comfort. She moves swiftly and begins to redress wounds. He stays put though, even though his hands twitch every time she turns too quickly to grab fresh gauze or salves.

She’s kind, and that what matters. Her grip on his wrists are always feather light and she introduces her self as Lenka.

It’s nice to have someone who doesn’t beat him or berate him at any given moment. 

“You’ve been asleep for a very long time lion cub,” she says as she presses some sort of medicine into shallow scrapes, “I was worried you wouldn’t wake up, but your brother said you would.”

“My brother?”

”Yes! The dead one I’m afraid, no one has come after you which I’m sorry about.” 

And that’s the end of that, she only continues with her practice, moving quickly to his shirt which he knows has injuries that would make him sick to look at.

He wants to ask more, about Wilbur. Tommy doesn’t ask though, only shuts his eyes as she peels back old bandages and scrapes at dried blood, holds his breath when she begins to clean it more thoroughly.

“Lenka?”

”Yes lion cub?”

”Did he tell you my name? My brother?”

Lenka pauses, and sends him a soft smile, one that says something he doesn’t understand.

”He did, but he said you would be calmer with lion cub.”

Of course he did, Wilbur always had to meddle with things that weren’t his business. Tommy’s heart feels warmed despite everything. 

Tommy is confined to another week of bed rest after he wakes up, and it’s during his time with Lenka that he learns he’s been there for almost two months. So much lost time, so much time away from Dream.

He feels victorious.

Lenka teaches him about her village as she helps him to get stronger. She goes his pace with recovery as well, is always the first to block louder villagers from approaching him.

There’s a lot to go over, surprisingly. She makes him go on hunting trips with her, foraging for berries or makes him meditate for hours on end. He really enjoys dinner the most.

It’s full of singing and dancing, and he’s never forced to join in unless he wants to. He never does, but he feels happy just to be able to share this with Lenka and the village. He often finds himself humming songs from the night before when Lenka pulls him from bed to go hunting.

Sure he still has the occasional nightmare about being blown to pieces, about Dream beating him within an inch of his life, all of which wake the village up with his screaming.

But he feels confident in the daylight. The months spent a with Lenka are fruitful, and allow him to relearn skills he had long forgotten. Lenka kicks his ass into the ground both in sparring and learning more often than not.

Tommy is more dangerous than he had been in years though. 

Lenka often looks at him with pride, he catches her smiling at him like he’s hung the moon and stars. 

He only spends one more winter with Lenka and the village, they celebrate his 18th birthday on the 9th and Lenka decides that he’s ready a month later. 

“It’s spring again lion cub,” she says on their way back to the village, making him drag the large boar they had caught, “I think it is almost time.”

Tommy knows what she means, and he lets out a shuddering breath, “What does that mean idiot?”

She shoots him a scolding glare, and he grins sheepishly back, and she seems to melt just the tiniest bit.

”You know what I mean lion cub, you can’t stay here forever, your journey is nowhere near over.”

”It could be if I just stay here!”

Lenka only shakes her head and pushes aside underbrush for him to drag the boar through, “Would you rather whatever you ran from catch you?”

Gritting his teeth Tommy moves past her, he had told her bits and pieces of home, of what had happened. She was always too perceptive though, putting together a full picture with only a couple pieces.

It’s hard not to snap at the children who surround the two of them as they get to the village. He drops the still warm body with one of the men who wait to skin the boar.

”Are you really fucking kicking me out?”

She again only shakes her head at him, and it makes him feel like a petulant child. He’s eighteen for fucks sake, who gave her the right to make him feel five.

“If it’s what you want to hear then yes, I am kicking you out.”

”How long do I have then?”

Lenka turns to ruffle his hair before she ducks into their house, “Three days!” 

Tommy groans and stomps in after her, groaning even louder in an attempt to annoy her.

”What the fuck, why do I have to go?”

She doesn’t answer him and he mopes for the next few hours as he follows Lenka to do her chores around the village.

He spends the next three days doing the same thing he had been doing for almost two years, spending the day with Lenka and the village. He hunts for the last time with Lenka and locks away the memory for future days when the sun doesn’t seem as bright.

Tommy really does his best not to cry at dinner, but she still catches him. She looks like she might want to cry as well, and she holds him close as he shudders and lets out broken sobs.

”It’s a new experience my lion cub, you’ll be alright if you wander off for a while.”

He can only clutch at her dress as she runs calming fingers through his hair, shaking his head against her stomach.

”I really don’t want to go Lenka.”

”You’re ready to go though, if you stay here you’ll never do anything else.”

Tommy knows that, but he doesn’t let go of her. She doesn’t let go until he’s ready either. And if he crawls in bed with her that night she doesn’t say anything, only laughs and pets his hair until he falls asleep.

She does however push him out of bed at the crack of dawn, laughing when she hears the heavy thunk of his head connecting with the floor.

”Get up my boy, today’s the day.”

”I’ll kill you woman, I am going to hogtie you and leave you to the wolves.”

Lenka looks down at him with more love and care than he thinks he’s ever seen. He gets up to follow her even though his heart feels full of lead.

Its different that morning, there isn’t any hunting or meditating. Just quiet shuffles of feet on the floor as he watches her begin to pack a bag for him. He sniffles as quietly as he can, believing he can stop tears if he tries hard enough. She sets a small bowl of food down for him and tells him to sit.

He wipes away tears and angrily shovels food into his mouth as she packs more and more things into his bag. 

“Here my lion cub,” it’s her sword that she sets on the table, next to the rucksack filled to the brim with supplies, “For your journey.”

”You know I can’t take that,” he mumbles out around chunks of meat and bread, “it’s yours.”

Lenka laughs and ruffles the top of his head, “You will, it will keep you safe.”

Tommyinnit is dangerous, probably one of the most dangerous people to walk the earth, but he feels small when Lenka gives him a sad smile and makes him get ready.

He tries to move as slowly as he can, tries to memorize every crack in the ceiling, every groove in the wood of his bed. Lenka just pushes him along even more.

It’s barely been an hour since he’s woken up, and him and Lenka are at the edge of the village. She holds his hand as she moves through the forest, he can tell she’s as nervous about him leaving as he is.

There are no words said though, not anymore. 

He clutches at the hilt of Lenka’s sword as she brings him to the base of the large mountain that guards the village.

”Here we are my lion cub, are you ready?”

”No.”

She squeezes his hand a final time and lets go.

She’s what he thinks of when he needs a goal, she looks so strong next to him, even though she’s almost a foot shorter, she looks ready to take on the world.

Tommy gazed up to the mountain, and he finally relaxes. He doesn’t think he’s ready at all, but to be completely fair he knows he can’t stay. He loves his village and Lenka, but he knows there isn’t enough distance between him and Dream. Tommy is anxious to leave.

He casts a look at Lenka, and she’s looking right back. She’s got stars in her eyes and looks so very proud.

”When can I come visit?” He asks

She only shrugs and cups his face to wipe the tears from his cheeks, “You’ll know, when the time is right you’ll know to come home, and I’ll be waiting.”

Slumping forward he sighs, and she kisses the top of his head.

”Tommy,” she’s never called his name before and it scares him, “My little lion cub, I wish you well on your journey.”

Then she’s gone, she’s silent as she weaves through the forest and back to the village. And then Tommy is alone. 

It’s difficult to figure out what he’s feeling, and can only put one foot in front of the other. He misses Lenka already, the warmth of the fire after dinner. As he reaches to pull himself up the first stretch of mountain however, he grins. He doesn’t know why he’s smiling, his chest feels like it’s going to burst with longing and that he’s going to fall apart at any moment. Tommy keeps smiling anyway, and jumps to reach the next ledge.

It takes barely any time to reach the peak of the mountain, not nearly the largest one he's ever gone over, but he’s still breathless and panting once he gets there. 

He screams at the top of his lungs then, and looks down on the village to see Lenka starting one of the communal fires.

He whoops and hollers and yells until his voice is hoarse and he knows Lenka can hear him. 

Then Tommy is gone, he doesn’t linger anymore than he has to. He takes one glance back towards the village, and he notices Lenka waving at him. He races as fast as he can down the mountain, tumbling and definitely scraping his hands as he catches himself. He’s elated, and freer than he’s ever been. 

He doesn’t know where he’s going really, he has no idea what lies beyond the other side of the mountain. Tommy isn’t scared at all anymore though, and he no longer runs with fear. He’s got a spring in every step, and his feet pound the earth with a grace that he’s never had before.

The months blow by faster than they have before, he still has no idea where he’s going, but he’s definitely going somewhere.

He picks up a horse when he gets tired of running on his own, and is reckless in his adventure. She seems to like it though, and often causes he own trouble. He adequately names her Clementine, and she seems to hate him with all of her heart. 

She’s an amazing travel companion.

Even though she’ll nearly rip his head off when she pulls his hair, or ‘accidentally’ almost trample him. She’s steadfast and runs smoother than he does. 

Other than a mean-spirited horse he has no clue what comes next. The universe decides to give him something as a gift, an annoying gift, but a gift nonetheless. 

It comes in the form of smoke and death, with tumbling stone in between. He can smell the smoke and rot before he sees it. Against his better judgment he steers Clementine in the direction that it comes from. 

He’s seen worse really, has caused worse with his brothers before. It doesn’t make it any less jarring to come across the smoldering village. 

Clementine refuses to leave him be even as he dismounts and leaves her at a safe distance. She whinnies and cries out and forces him to come back to bring her with him.

”And here I thought you hated me! I’m just such a man you can’t resist aren’t I?”

She sneezes in his face, and that’s the end of their one sided conversation.

Tommy feels a little sad as he walks through the village, because he can see how nice it must have been. He reads it all like an open book, he notices the ash that once was stalls for trading, and how fallen signs on buildings give their secrets willingly. He knows what it’s like to watch your home burn to the ground, and he hopes that anyone who might have escaped didn’t stay to watch.

Its hard to see the little figure on the ground though, and Clementine pulls him back before he steps on the shivering pile of ash.

”Holy shit.”

Through leathered wings a small eye peers out, and Tommy freezes. This is a child, and he has no idea what to do.

Clementine, obviously the smarter of the two, reaches out to sniff the child, who while not moving away doesn’t seem to move any closer.

Tommy still has no idea what to do. What would Lenka do? Lenka would have fixed everything already, would probably give the kid something to eat.

He just crouches down and scratches the back of his head, “Uh hey kid, are you hurt?”

This time a bright head full of blonde curls pops out of what he assumes are bat wings, and hopes that the wings aren’t some type of burnt or mangled bird ones.

”Who the fuck are you?” The kid is timid when they speak, but the audacity makes him laugh

”Tommy innit, I’m kind of famous if you didn’t know,” he brags and shuffles just the tiniest bit closer, “Where are your parents, are they with you still?”

Only God knows where this would go, but Tommy feels hopeful when the kid turns to fully face him.

“I’m Rooke, and I think you’re stupid.”

”Well I think you’re fucking stupid too! I’m amazing!”


	2. Home is Farther than I thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rooke and Tommy get to know each other, other things happen and Tommy settles down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rooke isn’t a new oc, this version of her is, but I really hope you’ll like her because she’s very special to me

Tommy admittedly has barely any clue on how to take care of himself. It’s only been half a year since he left Lenka, and he’s sure she’d yell at him for what he’s thinking about doing.

Rooke is quiet, and very very frail. The girl has spunk though, she will curse and hiss at him every time he says something she doesn’t like. So of course there isn’t any chance he was going to leave her there to die.

He let’s her ride atop of Clementine while he slowly pulls her reins. It’s there that he learns she’s barely just turned seven, and that her parents had died in the strange fire.

His heart aches for her and he has no idea what to do beyond feel sorry. So they just keep moving. He lets her ride Clementine until she wants to stop and then they rest. 

It’s a struggle, as he tries to put his thinking cap on. Tommy is definitely not dumb, maybe just a little stupid. 

“Do you have any other family?”

”I have grandma.” She clicks at him, struggling with the piece of bread he had given her

”And do you know where she is?” 

“Mama said she was dead.”

So no other family. He curses at the sky, and wonders what to do for a few more hours. In the end he still has no idea what to do or where to go. It’s definitely not safe to travel with a child, he at least a knows that, but how would he get anywhere without traveling?

Apparently Rooke finds his suffering funny, and tells him that he looks old with his brow so creased. He yells about being so insulted it’s rude, and when she laughs at him he feels a little relieved. 

“Where do you want to go? I don’t have a home and I travel too much for someone your size.”

She looks at him with a glare, “I’m a big kid, I can go wherever I want.”

“Well you can either stick with me, or I’ll tie you up at some village for the cats to get.”

She nails him right in the eye with her leftover bread, and laughs when he curses about indignity. 

It’s just them for a while after that, the days are sunny and Rooke seems to enjoy the fresh air and new sights. They ride for hours and hours, stopping whenever Rooke says she wants to go and look at a frog or a bug. 

He still doesn’t know where to go, but at least he has a goal, to make sure the kid ends up alright. 

Tommy really wishes he had advice from Lenka, would even take some from Phil at that point. 

Eventually he stops at a village, knowing that it’s better to ask someone than nobody at all.

People are, apprehensive at the sight of the winged girl. He feels a little angry in her place, and glares at them each time he catches them staring for too long. Rooke doesn’t look up once, and clings to his chest only chittering quietly as he walks around.

He remembers being that young more vividly now, and knows why he hides his own animal features. The eyes of strangers are peircing, and he feels as if though they’re looking at ears he no longer shows. 

Tommy walks a little quicker through the village, and nearly bursts into the first tailors shop he sees. 

Rooke stops chittering as loud once they’re inside.

”Well hello there!”

He’s greeted by an older man with a warm smile. Tommy lets out a breath and holds Rooke a little tighter as he walks forward. 

“I’m going to be really honest with you old man, I just picked up this kid and now I have no fucking idea what to do.”

The tailor laughs at him, albeit a little nervously, but he still sounds amused, “I have all kinds of clothes, and a lot of children of my own, so I think I can help you at least a little!”

Rooke seems to enjoy looking around, still refusing to let go of him, but he doesn’t mind. He lets her touch the fabrics she likes, and he picks out a few of her favorite ones. She pings and clicks quietly to herself when she realizes what he’s doing.

”So son,” Tommy tries not to bristle at that, and continues to grab whatever Rooke points to, “where’d you get the little miss from?”

”Some village a few hundred blocks back,” he huffs to himself at the look on the mans face, “it was burnt to the ground though, an’ she’s no help in figuring out why.”

Rooke pokes him in the ribs at the comment, but still says nothing about it, and pushes his hands that are full of clothes towards the tailor. 

“Well I haven’t heard anything about a burning village, maybe someone else has though, you should try asking around.”

Tommy lets out an inaudible sigh, scratching the top of Rooke’s head as the man figures out how much everything costs. He’s definitely not staying in this town to figure anything out, not with how the people look at him and the kid. 

More dead ends, still not any closer to figuring out what to do with the kid. 

Tommy while not rich, has no poblem with money. He’s just greedy. He reluctantly hands over his emeralds to the man, definitely pissed off about the cost. He’s a little less pissed when the man throws in a free bag to carry Rooke’s stuff in. 

He politely (not all that polite) bids the man a farewell before he’s shuffling out the door. 

“Well you little worm,” he pauses and looks out at the village with distaste, “What do you want to eat?”

Rooke giggles to herself as she watches him squint at the horizon, and flaps her wings just tiniest bit, “I want some bugs, do they have bugs?”

”You cannot eat bugs,” he pauses and thinks for a minute at that, he’s pretty sure she could technically eat bugs, but shakes away the thought, “they’re very impractical food sources, I would know.”

”How would you know?”

He can’t exactly say he’s been forced to eat only bugs as a punishment. So he decides on a harmless lie instead. 

”Well, I’m awesome and know everythin’! Why wouldn’t I know?”

Tommy gets to moving when he notices people peering at him, and he feels cocky when his own stare sends them away.

This town definitely sucks.

Rooke doesn’t seem to mind as much anymore, and continues to talk his ear off as he goes in search of food.

”Well you can’t know everything, Mama said that nobody knows everything!”

He laughs at that, throwing her bag over his shoulder and readjusting her to fit better in his arms, “Well I’m what you call an outlier, that’s a big word that means I’m awesome, because I do know everything!”

”No you don’t!”

”Really? Ask me any question!”

He ignores any odd stares as he steps into a small supplies store, and begins to pick things he needs off of the shelves.

”Well,” she pauses to think, probably trying to think of a question that would stump him, “Why’s the sky blue?”

Tommy actually knows this one, maybe not completely, but he’s totally heard Techno try to explain it to him, so it should be easy to bullshit his way through this one.

”Because of science, there’s a bunch of particles and shit in the air, they make the sky blue!”

“What the hell is science?”

He has to hold his breath to not burst out laughing, and squeezes her tightly to his chest. He opts to ignore the scandalized gasp from a woman who overheard them.

”Kid, do I have to teach you science? Do you know what math is? Or how to read?”

Thats a good question, because Tommy while one of the greatest and coolest people in the world, will probably never be a good teacher. 

“I can read! And I can do math, Papa taught me how to count to a million!”

He sighs in relief at that and grabs what he can smell is a bag of potatoes. Strange, he checks in the bag and sees one has a comical pair of googly eyes. Oh well.

“That’s good, I can count to two million though.” 

Rooke sticks her tongue out at him but falls silent. He gets a little worried when her wings move to cover her head, but then he notices the couple staring at him. They don’t exactly look friendly.

Tommy puffs up at the challenge, bearing his teeth in a smile he knows looks very unfriendly. If he had a free hand he’s sure it would have rested on the hilt of Lenka’s sword. 

“Oi, Rooke-“ his whispers down at her, “If I put you down suddenly make sure you stay put.”

He can feel her nod against his chest and then he moves on as if there aren’t eyes glued to the back of his head. Just casual shopping, there’s nothing wrong with that. 

And then there’s a hand on his shoulder. He doesn’t turn around and just shakes the hand off, moving towards the counter with his supplies. 

Tommy does his best to ignore the whispering behind him, just clutches Rooke to him tightly. 

“Have you heard about a burning village around here? I’m looking for information and I think I’d be willing to pay,” idle conversation breaks the ice, and the clerk seems a little less tense 

“No I haven’t heard anything, there are some wanderers that stopped by town if you want to try them!”

Tommy only bites his cheek, and sighs. Rooke grabs at his shirt as he leans on the counter. “Do you sell maps? I couldn’t find any-“ the clerk adds a map to his pile of items without any more prompting, and he settles into a strange silence.

The blonde watches as the smaller man scratches numbers onto a piece of paper anxiously. 

“Hey, you, young man-“

Tommy realizes why when another hand reaches his shoulder and the clerk looks away. 

It’s sad really, having to put down Rooke, he hates the way she curls in on herself. Tommy has both of his hands free now though, and he’s just about ready to hit someone. 

“I ain’t done nothing wrong, but if you keep bothering me I just might do something wrong.”

He doesn’t expect physical violence, only prejudice and harsh words. But he’s a little excited when his head snaps back, and it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as Dream used to hit. 

He hits back even harder. Tommy is glad Rooke has her head covered so she doesn’t see the look on his face. 

There isn’t any guilt when he takes the items packed away on the counter without paying. He scoops up Rooke just as quickly as he put her down, and they both leave the way they came. 

“You alright chirpy?”

She doesn’t answer back and only clings to his shirt. He moves a little faster, almost a trot as he moves to get to Clementine.

He does his best not to jostle the young one as he packs away their things onto Clementines saddle. And as he mounts onto the horse he can hear soft sniffling. Tommy’s never been good with emotions, seeing as everyone around him beat them from him, but he at least knows to be gentle. 

He gives a gentle kick to Clementine and lets her lead the way, she seems to enjoy being able to go where she wants to. 

“Hey, Rooke-“ he pauses to pull her away from his chest, “I’m sorry that I let that happen, please tell me if you’re alright, I don’t really know what to do if you don’t tell me.”

She only shakes her head and furiously tries to wipe at tears. He scratches the top of her head in an attempt of comfort, and pulls her back to his chest.

How he wishes to be given advice from Lenka. Tommy just does his best and follows in what he thinks her footsteps would be. They keep on moving, and Clementine gets them there.

He learns a lot more about Rooke on their little adventure. She’s not afraid of animals or mobs, which can often end up with Tommy nearly getting blown up, but he doesn’t really care in the end. She actually enjoys eating bugs even though Tommy yells at her not to, and has caught her shoveling them in her mouth when she thinks he isn’t looking.

She’s also very smart, and picks up skills from him easily. She asks one day to start their fire, and of course Tommy allows her, with his help. Rooke yells at him and says she can do it herself. And she does.

The only ‘flaw’ he’s really noticed she has is that she’s very shy around people, but that doesn’t really cause any problems. 

It’s just the two of them, three of you count Clementine, and it’s peaceful. Tommy knows that he can’t keep traveling with Rooke though, that he has to settle down eventually. 

Rooke also seems to be getting tired of traveling so much, even though she never says anything about it.

“Where do you want to go next you stupid little bug eater?” He asks when he catches her trying to shove a moth into her gaping maw

She crunches down on it before he can grab it from her hands, and shoots him a mocking smile.

”What do you mean?”

Tommy shrugs and takes out a knife to peel an apple from his bag, “I think I want to build a house, it’s almost winter, and it’ll be too cold for you.”

He doesn’t think about giving her a piece of apple when she makes grabby hands at him.

“Somewhere with big trees! And the funny dirt!”

Podzol, she means podzol he realizes. 

“I think I can do that, where else though?”

She motions for another piece of apple and he of course cuts her one. Lenka would be proud he’s managed to learn how to share.

“I don’t know idiot, you choose!” Rooke crunches down on her slice as if to emphasize her words

Tommy thinks to hand Clementine a piece as well, and nearly looses a few fingers as she snatches it. Stupid mare. Where did he want to go though? Maybe a mesa, he’d only ever seen one once and had really enjoyed it then. 

Too many mobs though, so he crosses that one off the list.

“A taiga it is then,” he takes the final slice of apple and hands it to Rooke, who snaps it in half and hands him the other half.

Clementine snaps at the apple core in his other hand. 

It’s almost been a full year, away from Lenka. Nearly three from a family he had left behind. He still isn’t ready to go back. 

Lenka would be mad if he did. 

They’re off again the next day. Clementine leads the way most of the time, but he tries to steer her in the direction he knows has to be a taiga. He even made sure to check his map, and even bought a new one to double check.

Rooke corrects him after a few days, saying they need to head west. She’s right.

Tommy gets a little nervous when they have to travel through the snow, and makes sure Rooke is bundled up so much she looks like a doll. 

She hates it but listens when he says to keep them on. 

It’s an alternation between hot and cold before they reach a seaside village, and it makes him a little homesick. If only Lenka could see him now.

These people are leaps and bounds ahead of the first village they had stopped at on their trip. They even make an effort to include her in games with the children, and teach her basic drawing techniques and sewing. 

Tommy makes a mental note to buy her some sewing supplies when she comes back to him screaming about how much fun it was.

He has to pay someone a hefty travel fair to get across the ocean, apparently horses are very expensive to transport.

They leave a few weeks after they get to the village, and Rooke only throws up twice the whole trip. 

She says it’s worth it, and he knows she’s telling the truth because she screeches as loud as she can when she sees a small port town fade into view.

Both her and Clementine run amuck and cause enough trouble for the next year once their feet hit the ground. 

Tommy decides to buy another horse at the town, and makes sure to get something sturdy, he gets some type of draft horse mixed with a warmblood. He doesn’t really know what that means, but he’s assured by the seller that it’s a good mountain horse. 

Tommy is pleasantly surprised when the horse proves to be useful in navigating the awkward hills of the taiga.

Rooke also seems to love the gelding and decides to name it Harold. Tommy hates the name, but he doesn’t comment because the little bat gets angry when he hints at a different name.

Clementine doesn’t really care and makes sure to put the new companion in his place. 

And then they search, and search, and search. 

“You can pick any spot you want,” he calls to Rooke who is meandering around with Harold, “Just yell if you see something you like and I’ll see if it’s any good!”

Her spots are typically not very good, with awkward slopes and too little room, and way too many bugs. She really just chooses spots that have a lot of bugs. There isn’t any real thought to why she picks a plot. 

Tommy manages to convince her to settle down somewhere near a running river, promising an abundance of insects would be living nearby. 

Soon enough they have the beginnings of a home, and he does his best to build something that isn’t just a mound of dirt, or a cobblestone tower. He’s sure Techno would applaud him for his better than usual building skills.

It takes until two months after his birthday to finally finish. He turns 19 and Rooke turns 8 just a few months before him.

They celebrate the house with a cake, and Tommy buys Rooke a tiny sewing kit. She tries to eat the little tomato for pins. It leaves her disappointed when she figures out it isn’t edible.

Tommy has finally settled down, he’s surprised when he also remembers that he technically has a kid. He feels successful, he’s gone through what Wilbur would call a coming of age story. 

He’s a little restless at the fact that he no longer has adventures to go on. 

Then the universe decides to give him another gift, except it’s not a gift at all. It’s a disgusting can of worms that are forced down his throat. 

It’s on one of their monthly tips to town that he has what can only be called a ‘dad moment’. 

He is usually able to take his eyes off of Rooke, because she tends to cling to him like, well a bat. She’s a bat hybrid, so it’s expected of her. 

Tommy’s trying to tie the horses to a post and doesn’t notice his stupid little worm eater run off. He’s taught her to be quiet while hunting, and she always uses it against him. He doesn’t expect her to disappear though.

He panics when he turns around and she’s not in sight. 

“Rooke!” he calls

He knows that she can hear him, she can’t have gone far, and her hearing is possibly thousands times better than a normal persons. 

Tommy is breathless when he hears the tiniest squeak in the direction of town. He’s off the moment he hears another, more distressed cry.

He can’t really see clearly in his panic, only slides down a small hill as he tries to listen for Rooke again. It’s too loud to hear anything, people are mulling about and talking amongst one another. 

“Rooke-!” He calls again over the voices of others, people stare but he doesn’t care, and even vaults himself onto the top of someone’s house. 

His vision really goes red when he finally catches sight of her, and she sees him too. She’s never called him anything but old man, but when she calls out for him he really fills the role. 

“Dad!”

Tommy is assuredly the most dangerous man on earth in that moment. People can only watch in shock as he slides down the roof, and chases after whoever has their disgusting hands on his baby.

It’s over as soon as his feet hit the ground, he has a knee in some random bloke’s back and he clutches desperately at Rooke. 

She’s okay, she’s okay, there’s no blood, no bruises, 

“It’s okay, it’s okay-“ he doesn’t hear himself saying it until he feels Rooke repeat it back at him, but he knows that it’s definitely not okay

Lenka’s sword puts whoever’s beneath him into a very permanent sleep, and he doesn’t think about it a second time as he moves to take Rooke back home. 

Tommy trembles just as much as his daughter does, and he growls something vicious at anyone who reaches out to him. The local guards are too afraid to approach him even though he probably needs to be apprehended. 

One guard musters up some courage and tells him to stop. The blade of Lenka’s sword halts him, and Tommy’s barred teeth scare him with just enough warning to back down. 

He walks home with her, doesn’t bother trying to ride either of the horses and just drags them along. It’s a longer trip than necessary, but Tommy would rather die than let go of Rooke.

The two of them don’t go back to town for another two weeks, and when Tommy finally needs supplies Lenka refuses to go with him. 

“I’m home,” he calls out to the terribly silent house, and nervously searches for her amongst all of the rooms when she doesn’t answer 

She’s asleep and clutching a small doll made of cloth. It’s obviously handmade, but he’s still proud of her progress.

“Hey, worm eater, I’m home.” Her ears twitch just the tiniest bit, and she mumbles something he can’t hear

He gathers her into his arms and holds her close, stroking gently down her little wings. Finding it hard to relax he moves to one of the rocking chairs to hold her, and soon finds himself falling asleep with her. 

For the next few months it’s hard to do anything, Tommy doesn’t mind because he refuses to take any chances. That doesn’t mean he’s any less worried about his daughter.

Trauma sucks, he knows firsthand how much it can affect someone. So he takes extra care to try and put Rooke back together again. 

She’s never the same though, sure she smiles and can eventually be without him, but he notices the way she runs back to him when things become too much to handle. 

He wishes vehemently everyday that he could somehow take it away from her, but Tommy has to deal with the fact that he can’t. 

Tommy turns twenty that next year and Rooke turns nine. Things are still not the same, but they’re better than before. 

He teaches her how to use a sword and buys her a sheep all of her own for wool, she looks happier. 

There is a very long road ahead of him, and he can hear very clearly the voice of Lenka telling him it’s nowhere near the end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCK IT FOUND FAMILY TROPE ALSO DROWN IN IT IF YOU DONT LIKE MY WEITINNG IM HAVING A TON OF FUN


	3. I’m Sure Home is the Road we Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Rooke have to go again, Rooke gets better and isn’t completely healed from trauma but she’s alright, also we get more gremlins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LETS FUCKJNG GOOOOOOOOO, this one is probably the worst one I’ve written in terms of pacing and diction, and my spelling is definitely going to need another once over, but I had fun

People come knocking on his door sooner than he would have hoped for. His reputation doesn’t seem to deter them all that much.

They want him to repent, say he deserves punishment. He knows he deserves it too, but he’s lived just long enough that he doesn’t care. Tommy sends them away and when Rooke asks he just calls them protestants. 

He doesn’t regret killing the man in town, he doesn’t feel any guilt at all. He only feels bad when he realizes him and Rooke have to leave so soon. 

They’re not homeless he assures her, but that they’re going to have to move somewhere else. They’re gone a week later, taking Harold and Clementine along with any supplies they can carry. Tommy knows the journey will be long and arduous, but he can practically taste good fortune on the tip of his tongue. 

That’s when has a nightmare for the first time since he left Lenka. It’s about Rooke surprisingly, but she’s been taken from him and he can’t find her. His brain supplies Dream as her captor.

Tommy doesn’t wake up screaming, he’s been conditioned to do better than that, Dream would always get angry if he heard Tommy screaming.

He can only whisper Rooke’s name because his lungs feel as though they’ve been squeezed of any air, and his face feels numb. She hears him, he knows that the day after because he finds her curled up next to him. 

“Who’s Dream?” She asks when he can finally respond

Tommy chokes and shakes his head. They don’t speak anymore of Dream. 

More and more traveling. It helps him to forget some of the bad things, and the distance he puts between him and L’manberg is like pulling a leech from his skin. 

It’s a little nicer from then on, the days aren’t too cold and the sun always seems to shine on their backs. Tommy even teaches Rooke how to swim, but she only floats using her wings, which of course makes him think she’s drowning, but she always picks up her head to grin at him. 

Rooke looks healthier too. Her blonde curls seem lighter, and even though she literally cannot tan, her skin isn’t as pale as it used to be. He feels proud, even though he’s practically lost them their home. 

She learns how to fly a little better on their trip, has also learned how to kick him in the back of the head while he’s riding. He prays to whatever gods are out there for more patience. 

Days are spent well, food is always plentiful, and Rooke doesn’t seem upset anymore about how much they’ve started to travel. They wander until the both of them get sick of it, Rooke even says she committed every single bug she’s seen to memory.

They don’t settle down like before, but they do find a large trading town to rest in. People aren’t nice, but they aren’t mean either. It’s simple and easy to deal with, and Rooke doesn’t become any worse when he introduces her to large crowds.

When they first arrive though, it’s a different story. Tommy obviously feels like prancing around on Clementine because people are looking at him with a strange sort of awe, and who wouldn’t want to show off with all of that attention?

Rooke does not want to show off at all, instead she curls up on Harold and Tommy is forced to tie a lead around the gelding so he’ll follow along. 

Luckily nobody seems to care after a while, quiet whispers about a blonde warrior and the child with him all die down, and they move aside when he prods Clementine through the morning traffic.

Later that day, when dawn turns to dusk Rooke finds herself feeling better. She chirps and pings at him and asks to go outside. This time there isn’t any harm, and Tommy is grateful to whatever part of universe gives him a break.

People are yelling from some pub, and she asks if they can go and look, the singing sounds interesting. 

“I don’t know you always fucking complain about your ears after,” he places a mocking hand on his forehead, “Oh how I am wounded, Dad! Why didn’t you stop me?”

She sticks her tongue out at him, and gives him a sturdy whack with one of her wings, “I promise I won’t complain! Can’t we please just go! The food smells fucking great!”

He can only shake his head and tugs her along, “I am going to string you up by your feet you annoying little worm!”

The pub is warm, and full of people singing drunkenly to some barmaids song. Rooke sticks close to him, but her eyes are wide and she looks like she wants to touch everything.

“Hey moth breath!” He calls down and she clicks back at him, “you said you wouldn’t complain right?”

She shakes her head and reaches up to him, she doesn’t expect to be yanked up to his shoulders and does a half scream while scrabbling to grab at his hair. 

A few people notice and laugh, Tommy can hear her giggle back. 

“Why are they so loud though?” She asks poking at the side of his face

“They had alcohol, it’s the drink of the gods!” 

“Really? Can I have some?”

”No!”

Rooke pokes him in the eye and laughs when he swats away her hands. Its little too loud for even him though, the shouting makes his skin prickle and his eyes dart just a little too fast.

Maybe he should have drink.

Thats a bad idea, he knows that. So unlike his father or brothers he just decides to have some good old fashioned air.

Rooke say she wants to eat though, and pulls on his hair until he moves over to the bar. 

“Hey sugar!” clucks one of the barmaids, “What are you in for tonight?”

”Eat!” Rooke screeches at the woman

The woman laughs and grins back at his daughter, wiping down some clear glasses, “Well what do you want to eat? You gotta choose something!”

Rooke twists her face into something a little lost and bends over to look Tommy in the eye, she whispers something he doesn’t hear and he just guesses as to what she means. 

“Anything with meat or fruit works for her! Throw in a few bugs even, she’s a gross kid and will eat most of what she gets!”

The barkeep gets Rooke a bowl of grapes and some sort of meat dish, it literally just looks like meat and gravy, but she seems to love it.

Tommy has to smack the back of her head so she’ll spit out the ten grapes she tried to eat all at once, and that’s about it. She likes the food and enjoys whispering to the barkeep who continues to refill her bowl of grapes each time it empties.

Someone does get into a fight, and then there’s a bigger fight but Rooke just puts Tommy in front of her and shovels more handfuls of grapes and meat into her mouth.

Thanks a lot jackass.

There’s a new part to their day now, their routine doesn’t have much going on, but every night Rooke begs to go to the pub and eat something. There’s always a bowl of grapes and the main dish waiting for when she gets there. 

“So where’d you come from?” the usual barkeep asks one day, as she moves to refill Rookes grapes with some blueberries in between

Tommy steals one of Rooke’s grapes and holds a hand to her forehead when she tries to hit him, “A long ways out mate, almost a hundred thousand blocks for me, she’s been a couple thousand too.”

“Oh! What’s got you bothering to come this far out then?”

”Family issues, and the place I lived in with them had a ton of political problems, so I left as soon as I could.”

Its not a lie, but it’s very far from the truth. He just steals another grape from Rooke. At least the barkeep doesn’t bother with anymore questions, and pushes him a pint of what he can guess is ale or beer.

He knows better than to take more than a few sips. 

Rooke and him settle in comfortably for the fall and winter months, people begin to recognize them on their walks and Rooke even finds herself begging him for sewing lessons from some of the towns women. 

He has to check to make sure it’s safe but he meets the women who offered to teach Rooke and notices that it’s just the barmaids, so he agrees to leave her to them for just a little bit everyday. 

The first snow of the year Rooke brings him a red and white scarf, and says he looks a little less stupid. He takes her riding and teaches her some more sword skills in return. 

They come back from the snow fields on Harold and Clementine, and Rooke rushes to the pub for her grapes as soon as her feet touch the ground.

A few flashes of something better kept in the past flutters behind his eyes, and he races after her as soon as he can. He’s lucky the horses know to stay put, because he’s very certain Harold’s stall was left open. 

Tommy obviously looks wild eyed, and people move out of his way as soon as he ducks under the doorway. She’s fine, she’s okay. Rooke is only sitting at the bar and stuffing her face with meat pie and strawberries. 

His heart, though still racing slows once he sees her wings fluttering happily.

Rooke’s birthday comes soon after the first snow, at the end of November. Her sewing friends gift her some beautiful dresses and riding pants, while he makes sure to get her a cape and some new threads for her sewing. 

Spring comes even faster after that, and Tommy can smell warmer rain on the horizon. Rooke gets to experience her first thunderstorm then, when the air begins to change.

She loves them, and has him explain how they work, and he even buys her a book on storms when she has questions he knows he can’t actually answer.

Rooke while attuned to the earth and nature still cannot tell when a storm is coming, so she makes Tommy promise to tell her when one is coming. He always does so dutifully, and tells her a day before that something big is coming.

”Can we go out? To see the clouds?” She asks him after he tells her that he can taste the rain

”Well, why fucking not,” he breathes out, groaning as he stands up, he’s got old people bones now, Phil had always said it’s pressure changing and old injuries, he thinks it bullshit, “If you get sick though you can’t go out to eat tonight.”

She races as fast she can down to the stables, and nearly gives him a heart attack when she jumps down a flight of stairs. She can fly, he reminds himself, and then he jumps out of a window to beat her there. 

“Fuck you!” 

“Train for another hundred years bug face!”

Tommy almost forgets about anything bad that’s happened to him, sure his body reacts to things without him knowing why, but his dreams aren’t plagued by war and explosions anymore. Instead he wakes up and thinks about Lenka, about what to make Rooke for breakfast. 

He gets the ache for something more even still, he can feel it gripping at him when he takes Rooke riding, he has the urge to just continue on through the mountains and keep going. She notices the looks on his face often, and tries to tell him that if we wants to go they can, he vehemently refuses even though the sky seems to call him.

They get an excuse to leave one night during dinner. 

It’s the usual routine, get Rooke food at the pub and steal from her plate, then go home and sleep. Maybe drop her off with one of the towns women for the night, but that’s the only deviation. 

Bar fights don’t really ever interest him, even though they happen often in the pub. Everyone knows he doesn’t get involved and try to keep it to their side of the room. Tommy is anxious that night, he’s been too cooped up in the town and it’s driving him just a little crazy. 

But then someone has to throw a glass too close to Rooke, if it was him he could have kept his cool. That’s a lie, he definitely would have gotten himself into trouble if a glass came at his head too.

“Oi-“ he spits, turning to look at the crowd surrounding who he guesses threw the glass, “Oi, dickheads!”

Nobody responds, a few people look back with wide eyes, but they don’t stick for long. They begin to move aside as he shoves past, and let him see who tossed the glass. 

Tommy really doesn’t feel bad when he sends a kick to an older mans ribs, who was raising his hand to strike whoever was in front of him. 

“Genuinely fuck off, I’ll rip you to pieces you stupid prick.”

”They stole from me!” 

All Tommy can see are children, who he knows do not deserve beatings for trying to pick someone’s purse. 

“Full offense, you’re just an old sack of shit.”

That’s the end of that, and nobody bothers to stop the man who grumbles and walks off, or Tommy who finds his way back to Rooke.

He knows not to look back at the kids behind him or he’ll end up bringing them along too. 

Even days after the incident, he hears whispers from Rooke’s sewing teachers occasionally when he’ll drop her off, they try and tell him about the two kids and the man from the other night. Tommy refuses to hear anything about it, and holds up Rooke as a shield.

It’s on his 21st birthday that he sees them again, he almost tramples them with Clementine when they’re coming back from a small patch of woods away from town.

Tommy knows a trick when he sees one, but he still gets down to check on the young girl, he really doesn’t know but with hair that long he can only assume. That’s when he can hear the other one rummaging through Clementines pack.

”I could have sworn you had the shit knocked out of you for stealing, but to go and steal from the guy who saved you?” 

They run away as soon as the second twin pulls out whatever they can from the pack, and Tommy doesn’t bother to chase after them. He knows what it’s like to be hungry, and doesn’t blame them. 

It gnaws at him for the next few weeks, and he only feels worse when he sees them in the corner of his eye. They remind him so much of Techno and Wilbur, they’re both so in sync it’s off putting, and they’ve got the same victorious grin every time they manage to snatch something.

“Dad, why won’t you help them?”

Tommy doesn’t know why.

Maybe he’s reluctant because he thinks they’ll really end up like Techno and Wilbur. But he lays awake at night knowing that they’re not really like his brothers, that they’re children who still deserve a home. Why does he have to give it to them though?

Because no one else will, and it makes him want to tear his blanket to shreds. 

Against literally every practical thought in his brain, he decides for himself that he’s going to help the two of them. Even if they do end up like Wilbur and Techno. 

He tries to convince himself not to, he screams at the little figure that dances around in his head to not take on anymore responsibility, but it just keeps on dancing.

Tommy finds them stealing from another person, and he as always has to put himself in danger, standing in front of the woman’s wavering dagger, and the children run off before he can stop them. 

“I’ll take care of it, just don’t fucking try and stab them, it’s really not as justified as you think it is!”

They’re hard to find but he can smell the scent of blood and he knows it just has to be them, and he walks as fast as he can to make sure one of them isn’t actually bleeding out.

Huddling together they definitely have a few scrapes and bruises, and Tommy moves slowly and loudly so he doesn’t startle them.

”There you fuckers are,” he pants as if he’s winded, and they seem to relax thinking he’s tired after chasing them, “Can either of you count?”

“I’m gonna guess that you can count to at least three, because that’s when I’m leaving, if you’re at the front gate in three days you can come with me and my daughter.”

He tries not to listen to the voice in his head that is so distinctly Lenka screaming at him. Tommy just sprints away and yells back at imaginary Lenka.

Rooke is at least excited to leave, she chirps and pings at him the entire three day period, and constantly has her head on a swivel for the sounds of tiny footsteps.

Tommy has no idea what he plans to do with the kids if they do show up, so he decides to fuck around a spend almost half of his networth on new horses and a caravan.

Who knows if they can actually count or show up, but at that point he doesn’t really care. Tommy knows that even if they don’t show up he’ll go to look for them, and try to convince them to go with Rooke and him.

They do show up, and they’re tired and scared, but his face cracks into a bright grin, because they’re there. He tries not to be too loud, and tells Rooke to also keep her mouth shut.

She does her best not to shriek with joy when she finds out she’s the oldest of the three. They’re awfully small, and look barely older than six.

Maybe it isn’t the most ethical to pick up street rats who steal, but he’s literally killed political figureheads so he doesn’t really think it’s a big deal. Just ushers them into the back of the caravan with Rooke.

“I am not just stealing children,” he whispers to himself as he readies the new horses to lead and attaches Clementine and Harold somewhere along the way, “I am giving them a temporary home, it’s not like they’re going to stay forever.”

Tommy winces when he realizes he’s lying to himself, he knows it’s too late to drop them off at some orphanage.

Also why the hell did he buy a caravan? He’s really only ridden single horses before, so it’s strange when the cart jolts forward and he can’t feel muscles moving beneath him. 

“So...” he starts after he can feel the two of them staring at his back, “Do you all speak? Have names? I really need you to give me something to go on here.”

Rooke also clicks at them, her ears are twitching so that she can pick up even the tiniest whisper, “If your names suck we can totally change them, I’ll even give you some new ones!”

“No we have names!”

Rookie nearly jumps out of the caravan, and Tommy winces when he hears the shout. Of course this is the type of kids he picks up. Sneaky, cunning, and with no sense of tone. 

He can hear the phantom laugh of Wilbur, who is probably screaming about him being the exact same. 

“Well then, spit it out! We’ve got all day but I’ll end up calling you rat and cat if you don’t say anything!” he really hopes they don’t yell like this the entire time, even though he himself is undeniably loud, they’re on a completely different level.

“Well who are you? You know it’s rude not to introduce yourself first!” 

“Tommy fucking innit! I’m super famous, a real chad around these parts!”

”He’s not famous at all! Dad’s actually real stupid, I have to check the map when we travel!” Rooke laughs when she feels Tommy’s eyes burn holes into her head, “I’m Rooke!”

”I’m Rowan-!”

”I’m Wren-!”

The three of them get on like a wildfire. It turns out the girls aren’t six, they’re only a year younger than Rooke, who looks relieved that she’s still the oldest. 

Back to the wildfire part, they get along even better as the days begin to change, and they cause thrice as much trouble. Tommy can swear he’s got graying hair every time he wakes up to hear them yelling about breakfast or Rooke eating a bug.

It gets to the point where he picks up meditating again, and tries to channel his inner Lenka. He praises literally everything he can think of when the girls begin to copy him thinking it’s a game.

He wouldn’t trade any of this for the world though, he much rather prefers the sounds of them laughing and screaming at dawn to the emptiness of exile.

Makes him wonder if this still counts as exile, because he knows this isn’t what Dream meant for him when he blew up Logstedshire.

After so long away from home, everyone’s probably forgotten about what had happened. Tommy still doesn’t want to go back.

”Get in the fucking horse wagon!” he calls one morning, shaking his head as Rooke literally dive bombs Rowan from a tree

Tommy is happy, to be gone from it all, to wander on into nowhere. Him and the girls are freer than they ever could have been anywhere near the grave yard that is the DreamSMP.

And as he launches Rooke by the ankles into the wagon he laughs, something bigger and brighter than he has in a while. 

He doesn’t really know where he’s going, never has since he ran away from Dream, but he’s going. The horses get him to wherever that is, and he’s glad that he’s gotten to live long enough to tell them to walk on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY GIRLS HAHAHA YOU THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE LITTLE SMELLY BOYS??? no Tommy has to deal with three very hyper girls, it is his punishment for uhhhhhhhhhbbhbbhhhhhbhhbhhvfbfgnk


	4. Tired is he who Travels Far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Really just a filler chapter? It’s also helping get rid of some writers block and leading up to more plot, just some traveling with the girls and finding a place to build a new house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tommy innit,,, he get far travel

Tommy didn’t dream much during their travels, maybe the occasional nightmare but that was all there ever was. He really didn’t sleep much, always having at least one eye open for potential danger, or children who wander off. 

He missed it sometimes, because that’s when he got to see typically happier times in his life. He got to see Tubbo before the war, Wilbur before pogtopia. Now there was none of that, just a quiet blanket as his body shut down.

It made him wonder if it was just because he now had kids to look after, or if he was just that unlucky. 

Overall it didn’t matter, just gave him something to think about when the road became boring. His days were full of interesting sights and events, especially with the girls. He didn’t need dreams to relive old memories, he could just make new ones.

Wren and Rowan made sure that he had some new ones, that was for sure. 

You would think Rooke would be the bad influence, being older and having learned all types of curses and trying to shove bugs in her mouth without caution. 

You would be wrong.

Just Rooke was bad enough, but with the new addition of the twins she became what Tommy could only compare to a monster. They taught her how to snatch things from his pockets, how to fake being injured in order to get away with bigger heists. It was terrible, because they only had him as a target on the road. 

A constant day in and day out of them playing a game of robbery. Even when he tried to explain why stealing was bad and lying was bad, Rooke would pipe up about his stories of him stealing or lying. 

“Do what I say! Not as I do!”

”You said you stole idiot!”

Parenting was not the easiest, especially when your little gaggle of gremlins decide to work against you in literally every way possible. 

It was more fun than he had been able to have in a long time, despite the constant ringing he had in his ears from all of the screaming and yelling. Tommy knew he would rather die than give up what he had, because it was genuinely the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Sure he was exhausted by the end of everyday, but the sun still rose every morning to greet him and tell him he was doing a good job.

Spring was slower that year, not literally of course, but time passed by a snails pace in his mind. He made sure to keep every new discovery with the girls locked in place, to remember every new achievement each of them made.

The most surprising one was when he learned that Rowan and Wren had no idea how to ride horses. On its own it wouldn’t be that strange, not everyone knew how to ride horses, or even needed to know how to ride.

It was surprising because of one of their stories that they had told.

”One time we tried to steal a horse! It didn’t work though...”

”So you tried to take someone’s fucking horse, and didn’t think about how you were going to move it somewhere else?”

”Well yeah, but-! We uh, okay I don’t know what we planned to do.”

Tommy had laughed that day until he was red in the face, and his chest hurt as if he had stitches. He really needed to work on teaching them things, god knows what else they don’t know how to do.

Spring was a good time to learn how to ride, even if the rain made the horses muddy and disgusting, the two of them loved it anyway. They were quick learners too, Rowan fell off more times than he could count and Wren almost got stomped on, but they never wanted to quit trying. He felt proud, to know that he wasn’t doing a bad job.

Rooke was excited to help whenever she could, giving her own garbled advice as she pranced around on Harold. She would also flutter about their heads which really caused more problems than anything, but at least she was putting in effort. 

It also made it easier to keep track of them on their travels, they weren’t so interested in trying to pretend to stab him, and more interested in practicing riding. 

Peace was something he had never even imagined before, even this didn’t compare to his time with Lenka. 

So he spent more time doing whatever he pleased, going wherever the girls pointed to. It was nice for a while, getting to know more about the twins, and having them finally integrate into their little family. 

It stayed that way for a long while, as the days got hotter and longer, and the rain began to dry up.

They went far, farther than he had ever been before. On his own he calculated that he had been almost 130 thousand blocks out, 130 thousand blocks away from everyone he had left behind, away from Dream.

“Can you guess how far we’ve gone since I found you?” He asked Rooke one night, after she had moved to sit next to him as he drove the horses forward

”A couple million maybe?” She replied without any real care

”At least 50 thousand, in only a few years! Do you know how far that is? It’s far as shit!”

She only laughed at him, shuffling her way under his arm, “Well how far have you been? Where did you come from?”

“Almost three times as far as you have, and I’ve been taking it slow, who knows how far we could go if we just wanted to rush.”

At that she stirred just the tiniest bit, peering up at him with curious blue eyes, “Where did you come from though?”

He could hear shuffling behind him when she asked the question, and turned to look at the twins, they also had their eyes open to stare at him. So they hadn’t fallen asleep after all.

”Some place stupid, it was just my family and me back then, a couple friends here and there.”

”Why’d you leave? If you had a family before us?”

Wren and Rowan also shuffled forward to listen for his answer, and he scrunched his face up. It wasn’t as if he was against talking about his family or who he was before, he just never had the chance to. No, he was a liar, he had all the time in the world to talk. He just really didn’t want to talk about them, it always hurt to much.

”Its hard to explain, I guess they just stopped being my family after a while,” he paused and ran a hand through Rooke’s hair as he thought of what to say next, “My brothers were so much older than me, and my dad was tired of kids by the time they left, but I didn’t care, I just left as soon as I could, had my own adventures!”

Rowan and Wren let out sighs of wonder, and scooted up to sit behind him and Rooke. 

“Do you ever miss them? What about your friends?”

Rooke gave him a little too knowing look as one of the twins asked the question, and she reached out to squeeze his hand comfortingly. Stupid little perceptive worm eater.

He squeezed back and gave her a small smile anyway, “Sometimes I miss them, I wonder how they’re doing a lot, but I feel happy here, I get to be my own person!” he flexed his arms jokingly, which earned him little laughs, “Get to be famous and get all the ladies without them stealing the spotlight!”

“We all know you don’t get any ladies,” Rowan squeaked 

“If anything you scare them off with your stupid face!” 

Tommy let out a squawk, his face turning up in mock anger, “I’m the most handsome guy in history, you have absolutely no idea!”

”Harold looks better than you.”

”What the fuck!”

That night was mostly just insults to his face, and him valiantly trying to defend himself. Tommy didn’t mind in the slightest in the end, as long as he could keep away from the topic of family.

The three of them never seemed to forget anything important though, and each night they began to beg him for stories or details of what he had been doing before he picked them up. Each time he managed to get away with the bare minimum.

“What’s your dads name?” Rowan would ask

”Phil, he wears a stupid green hat.”

And Wren would shout their own questions before he could catch a breath, ”What about your brothers?”

”Techno and Wilbur, and they’re even dumber than Phil!”

Rooke was always the most interested in him though, about why he ran from home, what he did in his ‘village’. It was harder to avoid her more direct questions, but he somehow got away by the skin of his teeth.

”What did you do after you left home the first time, like before us?” and her eyes would burn holes into the side of his head when she knew he was omitting details

”I spent some time in another village, with this crazy woman named Lenka, we’ll eventually visit her someday-“

”Why can’t we visit Phil? Or Techno and Wilbur?”

“I’m not allowed back home, I don’t think I will be for a long time, I’m sorry I can’t take you.”

“Why?”

“You ask way too many questions, they just said I’m not allowed back.”

All he heard for the next few weeks was the word why, why did they say you can’t come back, why are you not allowed back, why, why, why.

Tommy didn’t even know why himself anymore. But he still refused to go home, he couldn’t risk the girl’s safety. 

The world always seemed to work against him though, as if it moved specifically to catch him up at every turn. 

They had been moving through something called Menphia’s Pass, which he had been told had barely ever been settled before, and thinking it was best to finally build something of his own, he headed that direction.

It was easy to see why people had never settled the area before, with how annoying it was to travel, and the bandits that seemed to be lurking around every corner.

Thats right, bandits. He could hear them, and feel the way their eyes locked onto his wagon before anything else. It made his skin itch and his shoulders hunch.

Thankfully the girls were asleep, making it easier to pretend he was just traveling alone.

He tried to ignore the way faces popped in and out of view, as a few of them began to step in the way of his cart. 

And then someone finally had the gall to speak out, and others blocked the horses way. They were lucky Tommy didn’t have them run over. The horses wouldn’t have given it any thought either. 

“You there, the blonde kid, you’re Phil’s boy aren’t you?”

”And if I am?” Tommy had asked, his shoulders tensing as the man began to peer at him, how the hell did this guy recognize him, how did he know Phil?

”That means you’re lucky, you get to live today, because of him.”

”I could tear you to pieces, why don’t you come on down here if you think otherwise?”

It was hard not to move at the booming laugh the bandit let out, and his hand moved to grip at Lenka’s sword angrily. How dare someone fucking threaten him and have the audacity to laugh after?

“Watch yourself, Phil didn’t specify not to hurt you, you might make me angry.”

”Come down here, you fucking coward.”

Tommy felt momentary gratification as the bandits eyes narrowed at him, and his hand twitched at his side. He knew that the man would become mincemeat if he actually did come down, and his mouth watered just the tiniest bit in anticipation.

Nobody could compare to a fight against Dream, everyone else was as easy to kill as a sitting duck. 

And good god was Tommy hungry for duck.

”You’re worse than Phil had told me, can’t wait to see his face when he hears about you.”

”If you tell him you saw me here I’ll actually kill you, don’t test me bitch.”

Even the horses were becoming anxious now, stomping every time someone would move around them. Tommy could hear the blood roaring in his ears as the bandit smirked at him. This wasn’t what Tommy had planned for when he wanted to get through Menipha’s Pass.

He could hear the soft sounds of Rooke and the twins stirring behind him, and he prayed to whatever was listening they stayed asleep. 

“How the hell do you know Phil? He would never mess with traders like you.”

”Sounds like you don’t know your father as well as you’d think!”

”I am going to rip your jaw from your skull if you keep talking to me like that.”

This rats tone was grating on already sensitive ears, and his muscles began to ache with how much he held back from leaping up to the ledge the man sat on.

Silence sat between them maliciously as the bandit stared at him.

“Why the fuck is Phil looking for me?”

“Everyone’s been looking for you, at least in L’manberg they are.”

His breath hitched, causing the other to lean forward in interest. He forced out a breath in anger once he saw it, bearing his teeth in the unfriendliest grin he could manage.

”You can tell them to fuck off too!”

Bile still rose in his throat as he thought about the chance of Dream still searching for him, and he willed his hands not to shake in front of this annoyance in front of him.

”I will, they’ve all put a lot of money out just for information, not even I would pass that up.”

”Rot in hell bitch.”

It felt like a good time to storm off angrily, as the man began to become more interested and the light shuffling behind him became more frequent, it wouldn’t seem as unnatural if he moved out of aggravation.

Tommy raised his middle finger at the man as he urged the horses forward, and they seemed almost grateful to get moving. The caravan lurched and in an attempt to be as annoying as possible Tommy winked at the bandit as they moved past.

“Get fucked idiot, I hope you fall off the side of this cliff!”

Even through the sound of wind rushing past his ears he could hear the exasperated huff the other let out, and Tommy grinned. The caravan seemed to laugh as it moved, the wheels squeaking as they moved through the pass.

Eyes could still be felt watching him until the cart faded from few.

Eventually someone spoke from behind him, “Who was that?” 

Rowan, crawled to sit behind him, eyes blinking at him slowly as she began to wake up even more. They were all okay, thankfully. Rooke and Wren still slept peacefully, with no hint of waking up anytime soon.

“Some old guy, bandit fellow, he was trying to get under my skin that’s all.”

”What’s L’manberg?”

Tommy grit his teeth, that stupid fucking rat was still annoying even after he was gone. 

“It’s my home, where I lived before you guys,” he breathed out, voice barely louder than a whisper, “it doesn’t technically exist anymore, just used to describe the area around it really.”

”Oh, I’m sorry-“ Rowan cut herself with a yawn, leaning her head down on the back of his seat, “we’ll make a new home, so you’ll be okay right?”

She was sweet, so was Wren, when they were quiet and thought before shouting. 

He pat the top of her head with a soft laugh, “It’s alright, why don’t you go and lay back down?”

“You looked upset,” even as she spoke her eyes struggled to keep open, and her head began to lull to the side, “I wanted to sit with you.”

”I’ll be okay, promise. Now, go lay down you junk rat.”

She huffed at him, pushing at his shoulder as she moved to crawl back into the pile of bodies behind them. Wren reached out to hold at her legs as soon as she touched the blanket, and she tried her best not to trip.

”Sleep well,” he said

He got a quiet hum in reply, and the shuffling of blankets came to a still. 

Tommy allowed himself to shake then, barely being able to clutch at the reins as he choked for the horses to walk on. It took all he had to stop tears from welling up in his eyes. Everything was really out to get him, even this far out from civilization and his family, it all somehow caught up to him.

He felt stupid, trying to control his breathing. Nobody would be willing to come out this far for him, not Phil, not Tubbo, not Dream. Tommy’s hands still shook regardless, and he wiped at his eyes before everything came tumbling out.

His chest ached with longing and fear. He missed the way he didn’t have to worry about being hunted for sport, the way Lenka or even Wilbur would tell him it would be okay. Tommy was afraid for the girls most of all. If he were alone he could have dealt with all of this on his own, could have cut the bandit down without worry. 

But he had them, and their safety was paramount. 

The wind bit at his face, and he couldn’t tell if his face was numb from anxiety or cold. From the tightening of his chest, and the way he couldn’t seem to breathe, Tommy guessed it was anxiety.

As they moved down through the pass it became easier to feel the tips of his fingers, and the warmth dulled the panic just as much as it did the cold. The sounds of soft snoring also reassured him that everything was okay, that he could deal with whatever came next.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered to himself, trying to count the different types of flowers as the horses walked, “We’re okay.”

It was okay. The steady rock of the caravan put him at ease, and eventually he was able to fully absorb his surroundings. There wasn’t anything special that he hadn’t seen in other biomes, but the open stretches of land were still magnificent, and the realization that there most likely wouldn’t be anyone able to bother them was amazing.

Later that day he had pulled the horses to a stop, and hopped from his seat to move his legs. 

“Where are we?” a little head popped out to stare at him, Wren this time with her face scrunching up at the suns glare

”The middle of absolutely nowhere kid,” Tommy said happily, stretching his hands up in the air, “I think we’ll stop somewhere around here.”

”For good?” Wren asked with a grunt, trying to clamber out of the caravan 

“Probably not for good, but I think we’ll build a house or something fun, we’ll be sure to give you a shack outside though.”

”Hey!” She said as soon as she managed to get her feet on the ground, reaching out to smack him

“Are we really stopping?” two more heads appeared, and Rooke jumped down to help Rowan from the cart

”Unless you want to go even farther, yeah.”

Something akin to relief lit up in all of their eyes, they were definitely exhausted from constantly traveling. Settling down would be good, maybe his ass wouldn’t hurt from sitting all day.

”You’re not like, fucking around?”

”No, I might even let you all pick a spot to build.”

Wren and Rowan shouted with joy and Rooke fluttered her wings enough to lift her off of the ground. Tommy couldn’t keep himself from laughing along with them.

The sun felt good on his skin, and made the girls faces glow even brighter. It wasn’t home yet, but it would be in the future.

As the girls began to tussle in the dirt Tommy began to unharness the horses, laughing as all four of them gave Rooke a side eye.

Soon enough the sun reached its peak and Tommy decided to let the trio pick somewhere that they wanted to finally take roots. 

Of course Rooke tried to pick the darkest place with the most bugs, but Wren and Rowan actually had an eye for nicer plots. 

It reminded him of home, not L’manburg, but home with Phil. The little clearing the girls pointed out had birch trees surrounding in a way that allowed him to visualize the way home used to look. He could almost hear Wilburs guitar, or the sound of him and Techno practicing swordplay.

He almost had to reject the idea, but it was really the perfect spot for a house.

So he laid down just the tiniest plot, and Rooke worked on a little flag, just to solidify their claim on the land.

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing, Rooke definitely shied away from the sun as much as she could, instead delegating herself to flower crown duty, but Rowen and Wren were the opposite.

They lived under the sun, throwing each other to the ground in a rough game of tag. Even he got caught in the middle of their fun, toppling to the ground after he had caught their eye.

The sun bled into the horizon soon enough, and screams of joy died down as it turned to dusk. Dinner was uneventful, other than Rowan and Wren almost burning their eyebrows off.

Sleep came easy to them that night, absolutely tuckered out from the games. Rooke and Tommy were different, one was mostly nocturnal and the other riddled with anxiety. 

“What’s going on with you Dad?”

He had been poking at the fire, and the only sounds he could hear were the crackling of logs. He had thought she was asleep, maybe she had been and he was just that readable.

”Eh? What do you mean?”

”You never say anything about your home, L’manberg-“ she paused to tear at a piece of meat from dinner, “Are you alright? Why did that guy talk about Phil?”

So she had been awake then, and had waited to talk to him, sneaky worm breath.

”It’s alright, this is really just adult stuff that you don’t have to worry about, I promise that nothing is actually happening.”

”Then why don’t you ever talk about L’manburg, or Phil? What about the rest of them?”

Tommy added another log to the fire, his hands gripping at the stick he had tightly. He couldn’t talk about shit like that with a kid, that was genuinely a bad idea. No kid needs to hear how their father was tortured by people he thought were friends, or that he watched his brother die, that his only family abandoned him.

“It’s just not something you need to know, a lot of bad things happened to L’manberg.”

”Then what about before the bad things happened?”

“Before is, fine, but it’s just hard to talk about.”

The little bat only huffed, munching away at her meat and staring at the embers that floated into the sky. He couldn’t meet her eye when she turned back to stare at him.

”I would really like to know eventually, it took me forever to know I have uncles and a fucking grandpa!”

Tommy sighed and hung his head, he at least had the decency to feel ashamed, “I’m sure, before everything happened, that they would have loved you.”

”Why not now?”

”Because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you guys meet, it’s too dangerous.”

Rooke stood at that, practically swallowing the last of her meat whole, “Nothing is too dangerous for me!”

”Sure it fucking is! What about Rowan and Wren? Can you protect them too?” 

It was her turn to look ashamed, turning her head away from him while her wings flexed in embarrassment, “Shut up.” 

He took in a deep breath, letting his head fall back so he could memorize the stars. Parenting was definitely hard, it only seemed to get harder as they got older. 

“When you’re big enough, I will take you to see them, but not a moment fucking sooner.” he left no room for argument, and she seemed to be placated for now. If he gazed long enough the sky seemed to wink at him, the stars brighter out in the middle of nowhere. 

The sky held no answers though, and he tore his head away from it.

”You should go and lay down, it’s getting late, we’ll start building tomorrow okay?”

“First thing?”

”If you wake me up then, yes,” he tried to give an apologetic smile, “We’ll start building first thing tomorrow.”

Rooke shook her head and moved to climb in the caravan, and quietly whispered as she passed, “Goodnight dad, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight worm eater.”

Tommy slumped down as soon as she disappeared into the caravan, rubbing his hands up and down his face tiredly. Lenka would make fun of him if she saw him now.

Eventually it stopped mattering, because sleep began to take him away from it all. Then for the first time in months Tommy had a dream.

He didn’t realize it until he could hear the soft wind chimes that Phil always had hung up singing. There was no way he could be doing anything other than dreaming. 

“Tommy!”

Wilbur, he was calling out to him, down the beaten path that led home. His yellow sweater made Tommy’s heart ache something fierce, and he had to hold himself back from clutching at his chest. 

And as Wilbur got closer he just decided to brush past him. He didn’t want to deal with what was most likely his dead brother haunting his dreams. Not right now.

”Wait! Toms!”

”Go fuck yourself!”

Wilbur catches up anyway, and moves to grab his wrist. Tommy almost growls and pulled away, moving as fast as his stupid child legs can carry him. 

“Please wait Tommy, I have something to tell you!”

”I can’t hear you! Lalala!” Tommy even goes as far as to cover his ears with his hands, “You’re just a stupid bitch, stop haunting me!”

”Its about the girls!”

He blanches with Wilbur acknowledging that this isn’t just a dream, and turns to face him. He waits until Wilbur gets in front of him, hands still covering his ears and then kicks him as hard as he can in the shins.

”Fuck off bitch!”

If he wasn’t so angry he probably would have laughed at the pained face his brother made. Who did he think he was? Trying to haunt him and tell him weird shit about things he probably didn’t want to know.

”Tommy, you little shit, I am trying to warn you!”

“Just send a letter like a normal person ugly ass!”

His brother groans, and hobbles after him, readjusting his glasses to fully glare at him, “I’ve been trying to give you signs, but no! You don’t listen to shit!”

”Oh go blow up L’manberg again! Go die again! So annoying, just hurry the fuck up and tell me!”

Had Tommy been any taller he would have tried to strangle the taller, and even with him being so small, he might be able to if he crawled up Wilburs leg. Tempting, but ultimately a stupid idea.

”Oh be quiet, I just need to tell you to be careful when you smell smoke, I’m pretty sure someone will be coming after you.”

”Oh? That’s all? I’ll fucking kill anyone who comes to bother me, now stop haunting me jackass!”

Wilbur had apparently lost his temper and snatched Tommy up by the collar of his shirt, holding him like a cat, “What if Dream comes after you? What will you do then? Can you even do anything?”

Swatting at his brother Tommy began screaming so he would drop him, thrashing about in every which way. Why couldn’t he have gone to sleep normally, just had no dreams like usual. 

“Go die! You’re so annoying!” He shouted while trying to turn and bite Wilburs wrist

The ghost gave him a good whap on the head before he let him drop to the floor, huffing at the younger in exasperation, “Smoke, just remember lots of smoke means danger!” 

“Yeah, yeah! Smoke, now shut up and leave me alone!”

”I’m telling Lenka, you stupid child!”

”Fuck off! I’m a grown man!”

Tommy woke abruptly, to small hands shaking him. And the smell of smoke. Despite him yelling about there not being any real problem with smoke, he still startled. His eyes moved to the sky to check for unnatural grey clouds, but it was just the fire he hadn’t put out before he went to sleep. It had Tommy on edge.

”Stop yelling, and get up! I want to build!”

Rooke shoved him over, while Rowan and Wren all peered at him curiously. It was just barely dawn, he realized. Lucky for him, his dream offered absolutely no rest.

And if he listened closely he could hear someone chuckle and feel a phantom swat to the back of his head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was very rushed, except it took me like three days to finish, sorry if it’s a little odd in the pacing, but in the end I’m still glad I got it out! Uhhhhhhhh, you guys should hopefully get another chapter, sooooon.


	5. The Universe Gives and Takes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha, Tommy and the girls have a small adventure, maybe someone shows up? :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!!! I might end up moving accounts!!!! But idk!! If I do change anything I’ll be sure to let you know!

Building came easier the second time, and with two girls who actually had a sense of style it wasn’t impossible to make the house look beautiful.

Of course he planned most of the infrastructure, but they made sure he picked the right colors and wood. He’s lucky they didn’t just choose the annoying yellow that the twins originally wanted.

Summer still passed by slowly, and Tommy found himself grateful for the long hours and sunburn he usually had at the end of everyday. 

It was proof that he was thriving, a contest to the evils that had always been out to get him. 

The girls also seemed to forget about asking him questions of his past. They were too excited with trying to catch wild chickens, or practicing their riding out in the fields.

Tommy felt relieved that the incessant questions stopped, that he could distract them with new life lessons or skills. The three of them always had something to do, be it fighting or learning how to make new textiles.

Fighting was one of the bigger activities they enjoyed, much to Tommy’s displeasure. Often they would wake him at the crack of dawn and beg him to teach them how to fight on the horses, or how to fight in general.

It was hard not to say yes, even if he felt bad teaching them how to fight. He remembered being the same when he was young, listening to Phil talk about his adventures to the End or fighting in petty wars. The longing for adventure and thrill was instilled in the girls just as much as it was him. 

That didn’t mean he liked watching them spar, it made him worry that they would end up like him and his brothers.

Too competitive to get along, to eventually find themselves worlds apart because they no longer had anything in common.

Tommy managed to convince himself that it was good to teach them for self defense, so that they wouldn’t fall to some creeper or spider.

They were good learners though, and their willingness to listen and absorb something new always made it easier. Wren and Rowan seemed to be very crafty, they picked up the techniques faster than their sister, and while they might not have beat Tommy, they had promise. He was proud, to say the least.

Rooke had more difficulty though, she wasn’t growing nearly as much as the twins, and being as small as she was made it harder to fight back. She at least didn’t give up, and worked almost twice as hard as the twins. Her eyes always seemed to burn with something fierce every time she got knocked down, and she begged him to practice even more after the others went to sleep.

The three of them were forces of nature, and they would probably be better than Tommy by the time they got to his age. He promised to himself that they wouldn’t end up like he did in the end.

Regardless of what they did though, it was fun. They made it easy to want to get up, gave him something to protect. He kept his eyes to the sky when he remembered that he had to protect them from more than just each other. 

Wilbur hadn’t tried to talk to him in his dreams since the last time. Tommy actually had more nightmares and dreams ever since Wilbur had warned him of ‘smoke’. As angry as he was with Wilbur, he still trusted him with the danger warning for some reason. It was better to be paranoid than to be caught unaware.

He would wake up and the first thing he checked for was smoke, a deep breath then getting out of bed to check the horizon.

Nothing happened, and Tommy somehow convinced himself that it wasn’t a big deal.

Instead of worrying he began to put more time into the girls, building around their house, just simple chores. One of the things he actually excelled at, menial tasks.

”What are you doing?” Rowan had asked him after she tumbled from a tree branch with her sisters

He picked out a twig from her hair as she got closer, rolling his eyes as he noticed the dirt all over her face, “I’m taking Clementine and Daisy so I can go and make a farm.”

”Like with animals and stuff? Or for food?”

The other two seemed to appear out of nowhere at the mention of something new, Rooke being carried under Wren’s arm. He chose to ignore them and continue dressing the horses with a plough. 

“Why else would I be taking the horses? It’s the middle of summer and I need to plant something before it ends!”

The girls of course beg to learn about farming, and he takes them out to the small field he had chosen to use as a farm. The three of them are amazed at the size, asking too many questions to answer at once.

”The horses are gonna help you with all of that?”

”Yes, that’s what they were pretty much made for,” He emphasizes his point by ushering the horses forward, laughing when the girls exclaim as the dirt begins to tear, “They’re a lot stronger than you think!”

Luckily the soil isn’t too dry to ploughing, or too waterlogged. The horses barely strain to move forward, and the girls are even more astounded when Tommy says they could plough almost three times as much as this.

”Holy shit!” Rooke says as Tommy continues to push the horses onward 

They don’t do much more than that, in the end they watch as Tommy has the horses do the bulk of the work, and run off to give them treats for their hard work.

Tommy spends the rest of that day planting vegetables that will end up lasting them well into winter. Wren and Rowan complain about him planting broccoli and other extremely leafy greens, but he just tunes them out. Anything tastes good when you’re hungry enough, or add enough salt. 

To him it’s not all that exciting, but he’s proved wrong when the girls beg him to teach them about planting, and he agrees to let them take care of the spices inside. They love the dirt, and are very surprised when it takes longer for the seeds to even germinate. They care a little less when the herbs sprout and begin to grow at a lightning pace. 

Dinner is eventful from then on, with maybe a little more spices than necessary, but at least it isn’t boring. 

Eventually summer does end, to the girls dismay. He has to explain that farming will have to come to an end soon, but that they can still grow some things inside. They make him build them another room in the house just for indoor growing.

It’s actually a good idea, and allows them to have a wider selection of food even if the output from the little farm is smaller than the larger crops outside.

Tommy enjoys that they have something more to do, because as much as settling down can be fun, it eventually becomes boring. Farming can keep them from other bigger troubles for the time being .

“What else can we grow?” Rooke asks when he comes in to see her watering a plant box

He shrugs and leans against the door, “Anything you fucking want really, but there’s a lot of things we’d have to go and buy seeds for.”

“Can we grow more broccoli?” he hears one of the twins say as they pad up to stand behind him

”Oh, now you like broccoli you little shit?”

Rowan, the one who apparently used to hate broccoli with a burning passion grins sheepishly. Wren who also followed to the growing room is laughing as quietly as she can.

”Well, can we?”

”We don’t have to grow broccoli inside, it’ll keep growing up until winter if we time it right.”

“Oh, well what else?”

It was mostly that for the next few weeks, as the days got ever so shorter and colder, all they wanted to do is experiment and try growing literally everything they could before time ran out.

Tommy let them do what they wanted, and he made sure they had whatever they needed to do so. Rooke also began to take up sewing and embroidery again, when it became a little too cold to be out all day. 

She seemed to be even better than him, and she always demanded to give any torn clothes to her. Maybe he would buy her a loom the next time he went to a village, and maybe a better spindle for thread. 

Rooke did try her best to get the other girls interested in her hobby, but even they fell asleep or became to restless to listen after a while. 

“If you won’t sit still go somewhere else!” He heard one night as he moved to light the big hearth fire for dinner

”Stop yelling!” came the hypocritical reply, and then the sound of stampeding footsteps towards the living room 

They weren’t upset he noticed as they came to him, instead they looked victorious in their escape from the eldests clutches. Tommy only shook his head and moved to begin cooking. 

“Don’t be assholes,” he knocked them both on the head as he passed, “If you don’t want to be nice just tell her you’re busy.”

Rowan and Wren stuck their tongues out at him in sync, rubbing their heads with a scowl. Tommy only chuckled and continued to finish chopping some type of potato. 

“It’s so boring though!” Rowan sighed as she tried to scramble up the counter to watch Tommy cut more vegetables 

“Then find something to do, there’s a lot that you can learn to do, if you want you can help me cook.”

Wren groaned on his other side, peering over his arms to the cutting board with distaste, ”No, that’s boring too!”

Insufferable is what these clowns were. Tommy thought about it a bit more, swiping diced onions into a bowl with other vegetables. Maybe they did need to do something else, the twins had always been really high strung so a calm activity like sewing or cooking might not be the most interesting. 

“Then what do you want to do?” He asked 

“Painting!”

”Whittling!”

At that he raised a brow, dumping the bowl into a boiling pot over the hearth. Usually they had the same interests, but there wasn’t anything wrong with them disagreeing on something.

Even they seemed a little surprised, staring at each other with furrowed brows, but nothing more happened after that, and they returned to looking at him for an answer.

”How do you even know what whittling is? Painting isn’t too hard, but I would have to find somewhere to buy paint!”

Rowan shrugged at the question about whittling, and Wren groaned. He could work with both hobbies, but he would have to make a trip before it became too cold. 

“Eventually we do need to find a village, and I promise to get the things you need, but until then you’ll have to wait.”

They were both groaning at that. Sure, it wasn’t a good idea to give Rowan a knife, but it wouldn’t be too dangerous with some practice. As long as Wren didn’t eat any paint there wouldn’t be any problems either. 

That night dinner was filled with demands to know when they were leaving, if they could come with Tommy, where they would go. He said that if they weren’t quiet that he might leave them in a box while he was gone. 

Of course they didn’t shut up, and he didn’t put them in a box. 

Tommy finally gave in at the end of September. They left after he had set up slightly automated food and water for the animals and plants. 

And this time they weren’t met with any bandits at Menipha’s pass. The trip was smooth, albeit a little chilly, but nothing a few extra layers couldn’t fix.

It was difficult however to find all the things they needed in one village. The price wasn’t the problem, Tommy had been mining for a while before the trip, but the problem was every town seemed to specialize in something different. It took almost four different towns to buy all of the presents for the girls and supplies he needed. 

“Why are you buying so much!” Rooke had asked with her eyes blown wide as she watched him and another man pile boxes into the caravan

”It’s almost winter you punk!” Tommy called over his shoulder, still moving to pile even more into the caravan, “If you don’t want to go crazy or hungry, we need a lot!”

He could have of course gotten a lot of the things by himself, but that would have taken too much time, and he would have had to leave the girls by himself to maximize output. There wasn’t any way he was going to do any of that though. 

“What are you even buying?” Wren piped up, while she and Rowan tried to peer into tightly sealed boxes

”Coal, Grain, medical supplies, all kinds of stuff!” 

Tommy really planned for everything he could think of, he knew Lenka would applaud him for using any semblance of critical thinking. 

“Oh, that’s smart!”

He continued to shove as much as he can into the cart before the horses can no longer pull it. Thankfully he had thought to bring all four of the horses to pull instead of just Daisy and Fiona. 

They were off as soon as they finished, only stopping once to return something Wren and Rowan had swiped from some village woman. He made sure they apologized, and gave the woman something to hopefully placate her. The whole ride home they squawked about keeping their prize, and he had to drill into them that stealing wasn’t a smart thing to do. He knew first hand what could happen if you stole from the wrong person. 

The skies even cried for him, pouring down more than half way home. If he personified the rain anymore it probably would have started laughing at him in pity. How annoying, now his nose was red and his joints ached. 

It wasn’t a big problem, the roads only a little harder to walk on didn’t deter him or the horses. 

But then it continued to rain for days, and a horse can only have so much patience. Temperatures weren’t freezing but he could tell that they were violently uncomfortable, and the girls even began to complain. 

As dangerous as it was to hurry, he drove them on quickly, not bothering to slow down at Menipha’s pass to check for any chance of bandits. 

His mistake really, he should have kept a closer eye on his surroundings, because it wasn’t a bandit that got him, but a boring old skeleton. Tommy was lucky he didn’t get hit anywhere serious, or life threatening, but he still had the breath knocked out of him as soon as it hit.

”Holy fucking, son of a bitch-“ the entirety of his right shoulder felt as if it was being licked by flames, and his vision went spotty for a few dangerous seconds, “What the fuck! Are you fucking serious?”

The horses were smart enough not to slow down or rear up, and the skeleton whipped past as soon as it came. He still got shot and that was the worst part. 

Rooke was the first to startle awake at his screaming, rubbing her ears as she blearily glared at him. Her gasp of shock when she finally saw what had happened was loud. He praised Irene when he realized the arrow hadn’t lodged itself into any bones, but it still bled like it had been. 

Wren and Rowan were asleep still, and Rooke tried to keep it that way. She tried not to yell, and clenched her jaw before she began to dig around for a cloth to hide the nasty sight of Tommy’s arm.

”What the fuck dad?” She hissed as she crawled up behind him

He could only bite his tongue as he held the cloth down, and every rock the caravan raced over sent his brain into a frenzy. Tommy chanced a look to the walls of the caravan, finding the arrow lodged into it. How fucking lame, he thought. To be caught by something as stupid as a skeleton. At least it hadn’t hit any of the girls, 

“It’s fine-“

”Definitely not fucking fine!”

Yeah, she was right. All he could really do right now was continue to move, if they stopped now it would probably end up being worse than just one arrow through his arm. 

After what felt like hours to him, the slope of the pass evened out and the stretch of road soon became one that lead home. His arm continued to bleed heavily, and Rooke whispered at him angrily the entire way home. Tommy barely managed to even his breathing and tie the cloth to his arm tightly.

It had been so long since he had actually been shot at, now that he thought about it. The pain was so much duller than arrows made by man, but it still caused his fingertips to shake with anxiety. It made him wonder how he lived after so many battles in L’manberg, coming back looking like a porcupine after every skirmish.

“What happened to you?” he could finally register Rooke’s harsh whispers behind him

“Dig in the boxes back there-“ he chose to ignore her for now, whipping the reins a little harder than necessary as he began to recognize more land, “There’s supposed to be some potions, grab me the super pink ones-“

The little bat shuffled as quickly as she could, stepping carefully over the twins before she tore into the first box she saw. He could hear a triumphant huff and the clinking of bottles before she returned.

”Thanks,” he didn’t bother to really check which potion it was before he downed the entirety of the bottle, “Good job worm breath, think I might just live because of you!”

He meant it as a joke, trying to lighten up the very tense mood, but Rooke seemed livid at that. If she could have hit him she probably would, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. 

“What the hell dad!”

Tommy sighed and pushed back some of her unruly curls, his attempt at an apology. His arm had definitely stopped bleeding, but it ached severely, no doubt missing a large chunk of flesh. 

“I’m okay, for real!” He reassured as much as he could, “It was only a skeleton, I’ll be alright when we get home!”

”Still! You scared me! I thought you were actually hurt!”

He pulled her in for a hug, it was a little weird with one arm, but it counted. Rooke clutched at his shirt, and tried to wrap her wings around him in a gentle embrace. She shook for a few moments, and then she backed away, wiping her eyes and fixing him with a glare.

”You suck, don’t do that again!”

He didn’t do it again, he promised he wouldn’t get hurt or joke about his shoulder again. Tommy did however, take the arrowhead as a sort of trophy. Rooke hated it and every time she saw it she would huff angrily at him, and tell him to toss it.

When Rowan and Wren woke up, they were also worried for him, but more left in awe. They begged to see the wound, which he did not do, instead swallowing a regeneration potion and cleaning up any blood on his clothes.

All that was left by morning was a pale pink scar. 

By the end of October they celebrated the twins birthday, they finally turned ten and got their gifts which they were ecstatic about. Wren did not eat any paint, and Rowan only knicked her fingers once while whittling. The art they made was crude, but they tried their best.

And by the time Rooke’s birthday rolled around the next month, they were proficient enough to have made her their own gifts. She didn’t cry, but Tommy could definitely see the way her face lit up and her eyes shone with something you might call love.

It snows a week after that, and it snows for almost a week. It’s a little less dangerous since they’ve become settled in the house, and he even allows the girls to try and ride the horses through the snow. 

Rooke ends up jumping off into a pile of snow, which Tommy has to come and yank her out of. 

From then on there seems to be a constant blanket of snow covering the ground, and the skies fill up almost every other day. Tommy teaches the girls about hunting during those few weeks, about the patterns and tracks of different animals. 

They’re a little less enthusiastic about seeing where dinner comes from, but they still help him by growing herbs and vegetables to go with the meat.

Tommy finally relaxes.

He’s finally got a home that he can call his own, a family that won’t abandon him, and there aren’t any psychopaths out to get him.

His dreams have gotten better, more often being filled with visions of Lenka or the girls. There isn’t any explosions that make his ears ring when he wakes up.

On the morning that he believes will be normal, his lungs feel full of something. He wakes up and digs his hands into his bedsheets, and tries to take another deep breath.

He isn’t suffocating, but his throat is sore and his eyes itch. Tommy is out of bed the moment his brain catches up and understands what’s going on. He feverishly checks the house to make sure there isn’t any immediate danger, and then he throws on clothes haphazardly.

As soon as he’s out the door he can see it, the smoke that stretches up into the sky in long tendrils. His head spins and he has to hold onto the doorway, maybe it’s just a coincidence, but his mind is racing with the warning that Wilbur had given him months ago. 

The valley he calls home hasn’t gone up in a blaze, but just beyond the mountain range he can see the ominous orange glow of a fire that is too large to be natural.

“God fucking damnit-“ he wheezes, swatting away the small bits of ash that have started to fall with the breeze.

In the corner of his eye he spots a fox trodding through the ash-layered snow. It notices him as it goes by, and gives him a knowing look before it runs off away from the direction of the fire, deeper into the valley. 

Tommy clenches his jaw, and crouches to the ground covering his face with his hands. He tries to deny that it’s someone he knows, that there’s someone just over the mountain. 

He knows better, and his gut churns with paranoia. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHAH WHOS OVER THE MOUNTAIN!????? Also spoilers for recent streams: wtf Tommy fucking died,,, this block game got me in my feels


	6. To the Point of Ruin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who’s there!!!!!! Dream???? Tubbo????? WHO COULD IT BE???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forget one of the horses names, it’s so annoying. There’s Daisy, Clementine, and Harold but I forgot the last ones name,,,

Tommy doesn’t know what to do, so he just runs on pure instinct. The girls woke up as soon as they heard him stomping around the house, crashing to grab anything important that might be of help. 

The smoke is thick now, it feels like it’s coating his throat in layers. He vaguely thinks about how dangerous that it is for the girls, and begins to tend to them as well.

”What’s wrong?” 

“I don’t know, but you have to promise me you’ll listen to whatever I say, promise me.”

He doesn’t even wait for them to answer, moving to grab clothes to wrap them in, shoving winter hats onto their heads haphazardly. There wasn’t any more clues to go off of, Tommy just knew smoke was bad and that they would probably have to go again. If he wasn’t so panicked he probably would have felt bad for forcing the girls to travel again. 

But his lungs fill with smoke again and he doesn’t really care.

Safety comes before comfort right now.

”What’s wrong? Why’s there so much smoke?” Wren asks as Tommy shoved a pair of boots in her hands

”There’s a fire, we have to go, it’ll be okay.” He reached to grab Lenka’s sword that glinted as he moved it to his hip, it probably knew something he didn’t

”Why do we have to go? What about the house?”

He ignores them, because ultimately he didn’t have any idea what would happen after this. Tommy just stuffs a bag full of supplies, and moves on to pack another. By the time he’s done the girls each have their own, and he decides it best to give them pieces of cloth for the smoke and ash. 

Chancing a look out the window makes his heart try to leap from his chest. The fire has definitely gotten larger, and he can see the way it glowers at him over the mountain pass. Tommy hopes it won’t decide to jump over into the valley. Knowing his luck though? It probably will.

Adrenaline rushes through his body, and he can hear the way his heart pulses in his ears. The roar of it makes his hand shake, the dull repetitive thudding causing his muscles to tense even more. 

A tug on his shirt allows him to hear the tiniest bit and he tears his eyes down to his side, “-alright? Dad? Why’s there a fire?”

Rooke peers up at him with worry, and he can see the way her sisters twitch to come over as well. Even though it pains him he sucks in a breath, and he shakes as much fear from himself as he can. 

“I don’t know-“ he has an idea though, he thinks as he reaches down to pat her head, “But we can’t stay, it’s too dangerous, especially being this close to the fire, but it’ll be okay!”

Then the thudding of his heart gets even louder, it’s almost unnatural how loud it is. What if it’s Dream in the other side of that mountain? That would be the worst case scenario, but it has to be someone looking for him, because who would start a fire that large for no reason? 

Thump, thump, thump. His heart feels tight, as if it’s about to be ripped from his chest. 

“What’s that noise?” 

That thumping is not his chest, he finally realizes. His eyes widen in horror and he begins to push the girls deeper into the house. The already loud thumping becomes thunderous, and he nearly shoves Wren the last bit into the store room in his hurry. 

And then the noise stops, and he closes the door behind the kids, his hand flexing against Lenka’s sword that rests at his hip. Tommy can hear just beyond the front door, the sounds of ruffling and footsteps through the snow. 

He doesn’t know what to do, and has to force his body to move even through his terror. 

A soft, but very pointed knock sounds at the door.

It’s him, it has to be him. Dream is beyond the threshold of the door, and Tommy can barely contain himself, can barely keep his breath steady. Another knock comes as he idles just in front of it.

Tommy reaches a hand to the handle, and pauses. There isn’t any point to pausing, just prolonging the inevitable, but it gives him time to compose himself. Gritting his teeth, he stands up a little straighter and puffs up angrily. Better to go out with a bang than a whimper. 

There’s a flash of green that almost makes him catatonic as he opens the door, and all of his muscles freeze before he realizes who it is.

”You’re alive,” comes the whisper from the person in front of him, and their hand reaches out to him in disbelief 

Tommy is probably the most angry he’s been in a while, and instead of looking like a deer in headlights he looks like a lion about to tear into someone. 

“Tommy where have yo-“ 

He sends a fist into Phil’s face with enough force to break bone. There’s a sick feeling of righteousness and pride as he watches Phil stumble back, wings fluttering as he tries to balance.

”Get the fuck off my property.”

Phil only holds a hand to his nose in shock, and the two of them stare at the stark contrast of blood to snow and ash. It’s a relief to know that it isn’t Dream who has come this far, but Phil is barely any better.

”Go away, I’m not going to tell you again, you are not welcome here.” Tommy bares his teeth angrily and hisses when Phil still tries to approach

”We’ve been looking everywhere for you Tommy, please just wait!”

”We’ve? Who else is fucking looking for me?” 

His father stops at that, and his gaze wanders over to the pass, where the fire is still burning strong. Tommy can already make a good guess, but he’s still livid when Phil tells him.

”Techno, he’s here too,” he tries to muffle it as he hold his nose, as if saying it in a whisper will make it any better

”Fuck off! I don’t want to see you or him! Why the hell did you come?” Tommy wants to scream at the top of his lungs, until his lungs are bloody and raw with anger

Phil’s wings flutter as he stares at the younger, his eyes are shining with guilt, and it only serves to make Tommy’s blood boil more. Where was this guilt when Tommy was in exile? When Dream beat the living hell out of him? 

“Dream said you had died, killed yourself-“ the man chokes out, flicking his hand when the blood begins to pool, “And then Ghostbur came by, after the first time in months, to say that you were alive, we had to check.”

Tommy does scream at that, grips the sides of his head in annoyance. Wilbur always ruined everything, meddling in places he never had to. There isn’t any cause for panic, but Tommy can feel his face beginning to go numb, and his vision blurs in a mix of rage and anxiety.

”And you decided to find me now? Only after Wilbur told you to? What a fucking joke!”

“There isn’t an excuse, but-“

”Then shut your fucking mouth and go away!”

Silence blows past carrying ash and more smoke. This time Phil does actually shut his mouth, and Tommy moves forward. He doesn’t know why, but he shoves Phil away from the steps. Tommy can now see how much taller he’s gotten since he left, as he stands above his father. The muscles in his hand twitch as he continues to push Phil away from the house, and its nearly impossible to not become physically violent.

”Get away from here and never come back, I do not want you here, you were never welcome here, and never will be.”

“Tommy, just please wait-“

”Go fuck yourself old man.”

The sound of another set of footsteps makes Tommy stop in place. He can hear the pompous sound of gold and Netherite clinking together, the rotten feeling of rage only increases tenfold.

”You stupid bitch,” Tommy turns to meet red eyes with his own blue, and Techno grins at the look on his face, “You’re not welcome either, so you might as well turn around!”

“I only came because Phil asked me to, so you can calm down runt.”

”Sure, what’s the fucking fire for then?”

Techno shrugs his gaze nonchalant, but his mouth quirks into a sheepish grin regardless. Tommy doesn’t know if it’s worse that Techno cares. All he knows is that he’s still angry.

“You’ve ruined everything, how many people did you kill to find me? Why’d you have to fucking kill anyone?”

”Why do you care, when you didn’t before?”

He sucks in a shuddering breath, his body hurts with how he has to force himself to relax. Then he’s turning around and walking towards the door of the house. 

“Still all bark and no bite, huh?”

Techno probably knows he’s pushing his luck, but he still continues, “I thought we would have found something worth while, but I guess not.”

Tommy’s vision goes red as he steps through the doorway, and he grabs the first throwable object he sees. It’s thankfully one of Rowan’s whittling knives and launches it blindly at Techno. Of course it doesn’t land, barely catching against the side of the pig’s face, but it sends the message across.

”I’m going to kill you if you don’t leave.”

“You can try.”

”I don’t have to fucking try, I just will.”

Techno puffs up at that, just now recognizing that the tone of Tommy’s voice isn’t joking. His hand connects to his sword at his hip, and Tommy’s also does the same. There’s a long tense moment of them staring at each other, sizing up the other for a fight. Tommy is more ready for a fight then he’s ever been.

”Dad?”

He whips his head back to see Wren and Rowan, who are pulling along Rooke behind them. There are soft gasps from both Phil and Techno as he turns to the girls. He crouches just in front of them, turning to block their view of outside.

”Hey, why don’t you go sit in your rooms for a bit?” He grits his teeth at the sound of snow crunching underfoot as Phil and Techno try to peer in

”What’s going on?” Rowan whispers quietly, tugging on Tommy’s shirt and trying to sneak a look over his shoulder 

“Nothing, but will you please go back to your rooms, just for a while?”

”Tommy?”

He hisses at the call, and sends a withering look behind him, staring directly at Phil who stands just on the edge of the porch. The kids seem to shrink back with the new voice, and he pats Rowans head as he moves again to stand up.

”Go away, we’re done talking!” He sends a middle finger in their direction, moving to shut the door 

A boot wedges itself in before he can close it though, and for good measure he slams it on Techno’s foot. He laughs when he opens the door and sees his brother biting his tongue. 

“Tommy, who are they?” Phil asks quietly, peeking over Tommy’s shoulder at three small children who seem to be both cowering and curious

”None of your fucking business, get the fuck off my property asshole.”

”Holy shit!” He hears the surprised whisper from Rooke, and he turns to find her looking at the unwanted guests with understanding,Tommy can only wince and try to block Phil and Techno out as she and the girls move forward, “Is that, you know? Them?”

”Yes, now please do me a favor and go to your room!”

”Wow, they do look like assholes!”

”What?” Phil squints, face souring at the insult

Tommy sighs, of course it’s nice to let the girls meet family, but he really doesn’t want them to meet out of spite. He can’t do anything to stop them though, and Rooke pushes forward to get a better look at the intruders. His chest aches at the look on her face and he can’t tell if it’s the smoke or something else.

“You guys suck, did you know that?”

Techno and Phil both look baffled, and all they do is stare at the little bat. Techno is the first to speak, looking between both Tommy and Rooke rapidly.

He gapes like an idiot for a few seconds though, before he wheezes out. “Did you- is she your, did you fuck a bat?”

”No you stupid bitch!”

“Isn’t there supposed to be another one?” Rooke asks seemingly unfazed by the two, and sticks her head outside to check for someone else

”Uh, well-“ Tommy stammers and pulls her away when she gets too close to Phil, “He’s been, uh, pretty dead for a long time.”

”He’s dead?” Rowan and Wren both say from behind him, and both Phil and Techno finally remember that there’s more than just one of the children

“Tommy, what the hell!” Phil decides to speak up

He’s got a migraine beginning to form, he can feel is just behind his eyes. Rubbing at his temples he pushes the girls back into the house, farther away from his father and brother. There’s so much going on and he has no idea where to start. Against his better judgement, he opens the door and steps aside to let both of the men inside. 

“If you do anything I don’t like I will roast you like animals.”

”Yeah, yeah-“ Phil says in a daze, still wide eyed with surprise as he steps into the house, “Okay mate.”

Of course he’s anxious as they step in, but he feels a little proud. The looks of awe they have boost his ego, and he has to restrain himself from showing it. He still wants the approval of them, he knows that, even if he’s buried it deep down. From the way they’re looking at everything he knows he already has their approval.

”So this is what you’ve been doing, living your life.”

”Some of this is it, yeah-“ Tommy shuts the door behind him, and moves in between the girls and them, makes him feel a little better to keep them separated for now, “Not that you should have known.”

Its a little awkward now, without the violence and harsh tension. Tommy decides to grab the lead in conversation, and moves to sit down in the living room. Wren and Rowan skitter after him, but Rooke stays just a little behind to ogle at Phil and Techno. The twins snatch her away when they see her lagging behind. 

“What do you want? Sit down and spit it out.” He waves a hand to the other chairs and couch, and Techno sits down on the couch, rude as ever with his boots on the table, but Phil meanders over to the kitchen

”Tea?” He asks softly, eyes catching all of the different herbs and types of tea, Tommy just nods and Phil begins to mess around with the kitchen 

“So, who’re the kids?” Techno steers the conversation away from Tommy’s question

”I’m Rooke! That’s Rowan and Wren!” She clicks, before Tommy can even think to speak, “They’re twins!”

There’s a twinge of softness in Techno’s eyes, and Tommy can see the way he sits up just the tiniest bit. It’s hard not to notice the similarities between Tommy’s new family and the old one. He can see the way Techno’s head works as he puts together the connection.

“I’m Techno, which you know apparently, I’m the guy who kicks your Dad’s ass.” He grins at Tommy, but still looks at him knowingly 

“He’s stupid, I’m definitely stronger and I would always kick his ass,” it’s nice to pretend there isn’t such a painful history between them, to let the girls get to know their uncle, “I was always that cool, you all know this!”

”One time Dad saw a pretty lady and walked into the horses, he got his foot stomped on and cried about it for days.”

”You fucking snitch!”

The soft sounds of Phil in the kitchen ambling around mixed with cautious conversation is pleasant. Tommy looks around at the soft pink of the wallpaper and remembers nicer times. Rooke has moved just the tiniest bit closer to talk to Techno and the twins have moved out from behind him. He wishes that this could have happened sooner, but at the same time never happened at all.

The smoke from earlier still makes his throat burn something fierce, but he knows there will end up being enough tea to fix that.

There’s always enough honey too.

”That makes sense, he’s never been the brightest of the bunch.” Phil chirps from the kitchen counter, wings fluttering behind him, and Tommy feels just the tiniest bit of guilt as he watches Phil turn to dress his nose 

Tommy can almost imagine that Wilbur is also somewhere in the house, and the smell of fire makes it more believable.

”That’s a lie, you’re all terrible, I’m a certified genius!”

Techno laughs at that, raising a brow challengingly, “Really? You used to think that Unicorns were real, so I’m not too sure about that.”

”They’re literally just horses with horns! It shouldn’t be that impossible! Like what the hell is an Enderman? That’s a fucked up creature!”

That makes everyone laugh, and Phil interrupts them by setting down a tray full of cups and biscuits. His nose has a bit of tape over it, but other than that he looks okay. Tommy still can’t bring his gaze to Phil’s eyes.

”You have wings too!”

Phil looks over to Rooke, and his face breaks out into a wide smile as she flutters her own wings and clicks at him. He stretches his own wings out, careful not to knock anything over, but definitely showing off. Even the twins gasp in awe as he does.

“Yes, I do!” Phil angles them down so they can get a closer look, and Rooke almost looks jealous at the vibrancy of his wings, “Your’s are much cooler though, they can do a lot mine can’t!”

Always the mediator Phil, and Tommy is grateful that he knows how to handle young children, it’s hard enough to keep them from tearing Tommy apart. He moves to pour some tea as Rooke interacts with Phil. 

“What? How?”

”Your wings are really good for flying! It’s easier for you to fly, it’s exhausting for me to fly and harder to lift off, I always have to jump or use fireworks!”

”That’s insane!”

The tea goes down smoothly, and makes his throat ache the tiniest bit less. 

The rest of the morning goes by smoothly as well, Phil and Techno interact with the children amicably. The air is still heavy as the wind blows smoke over the valley, but it doesn’t reach them so long as the doors and windows are kept shut. Tommy convinces Techno to help him with the animals outside, while he leaves the girls to Phil. As much as he hates leaving the girls alone he knows Phil would never do anything.

Outside though, it’s different. He can feel the way Techno’s eyes watch his back as they go to find the horses out in pasture. 

“Well, are you going to spit it out yet? I’ve already asked once.” Tommy doesn’t look over, instead clambering up a steep hill to look for the horses

”We wanted to make sure you were alive, maybe take you home,” Techno’s voice is gruff, and he silently points out the figures of the horses grazing near a small pond, “but I don’t think we could do that if we tried now.”

Tommy agrees with that. They might have to actually kill him this time if they wanted that.

”Why now? I know you could have found me earlier, and you said Ghostbur said I was alive years ago,” Tommy slides down the hill carefully, whistling for the horses who opt to ignore him, “What changed now?”

”Your friend, Tubbo.”

Tommy sucks in a surprised breath, but continues on towards the horses. Techno follows just behind. 

“What’s wrong with him now?”

”He’s threatening to kill everyone, and I was going to kill him but Phil said not to, said something about fixing it, and then we were off to find you.”

Clementine turns away as they get closer, purposefully kicking up dust behind her. The others don’t seem to care, and Daisy even picks up the courage to sniff at Techno. The pig is better with animals than humans, so he offer a hand to pet her nose. 

“That’s not like him, why would I believe that?”

”He changed a lot after you ‘died’ Tommy, I can even tell he’s not the same, we had to leave him with Ranboo just in case he tried anything.”

Tommy curses under his breath, shoving a lead in Technos hand. He grits his teeth as he thinks, hopping on Clementine before he moves to lead Daisy. 

“You can ride either of them,” he gestures to Harold and the other horse, “Or you can walk, it doesn’t matter.”

There’s a sullen silence between them as Techno climbs up onto Harold, leading the other horse behind him. Tommy groans and leans down into Clementines neck. She tries to bite at his legs.

”I can’t go back, not with Dream and everyone else.”

”Well if it helps, they all threw Dream in prison, and nobody else cares about your exile anymore,” Techno shrugs and gently kicks Harold forward, coming to ride besides Tommy, “And I’d really prefer if Tubbo didn’t kill us all.”

”How would he kill you anyway? He’s never been able to!”

”Nukes apparently.”

Tommy blanks at that, and falls silent in shock. The rest of the ride is quiet, and Tommy rubs at his head as he tries to think of what to say.

”I still can’t go, I can’t take the girls home, it’s too dangerous, and it would take forever if we took the horses.”

“Leave them then.”

”I’ll knock your head off if you say that again.”

”Sorry.”

Eventually the horses are put away safely, away from smoke and ash. Tommy forces Techno to catch all of the chickens by himself. 

Inside the tension melts away again, as if Tommy didn’t know his friend had gone crazy over his death. As if he didn’t have to make another annoying and difficult decision.

Phil smiles at him knowingly as the girls poke and prod at his wings while he answers their questions.

Techno pats his head as he passes, and moves to go and sit on the couch again. 

And as Tommy watches them all, he really begins to miss Wilbur after everything that’s happened. The smoke that fills his lungs feels even more like his elder brother, and he can swear there’s a flash of the same fox from earlier outside. 

The door closes behind him and he can hear the soft chittering of the fox, it almost sounds like laughter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s ALL COMING TOGETHER BABY, the plot of this is prolly gonna match up with some of the current stuff, the whole tubbo nukes thing, maybe Tommy will visit Dream in the future :)


	7. Welcome to Hell Traveler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and these unwanted guests have a talk, and decide what to do from there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme say before all of this, Tommy has not forgiven them at all, he’s only put his grievances aside for now so that he can get stuff done and let the girls meet their family

For the rest of the evening there’s a heavy feeling of the need for conversation. The girls are so excited to have guests over that it’s hard to convince them to go and play somewhere else. 

At least Techno and Phil understand how to deal with them without acting uninterested. 

”Hey worm breath, why don’t you take the girls to go and check on the plants? I’m sure they need water because of all the smoke.”

Its a long shot but it works. The three of them rush to grab their little watering cans and gloves, before slipping and sliding into the miniature green house. Tommy breathes a sigh of relief when the door closes behind them and their chatter becomes muffled.

The three of them sit for a moment, just to make sure the girls don’t come back out. And then it’s just them, and the awkward silence between them.

”So, what do you want to do now?”

”If the girls weren’t here, no offense,” Tommy says and snatches a biscuit from the tray on the table, “I would beat you both into the ground.”

Techno sends a look at Phil, shrugging and moving to grab his own biscuit, ”Well, that’s fun.” 

“I know there’s a lot of history, but I’m really worried Tommy,” Phil leans forward in his seat, trying to show that he really means it, “You really need to talk to Tubbo!”

”Why should I?” He laughs at the way his father and brother reel, and takes a bite from the biscuit, “You only came here to save your own skin, you wouldn’t have ever bothered otherwise.”

The air seems to chill with the way Tommy glares at the two of them. They at least have enough shame to look away. There’s a small crash that interrupts the tension, and a voice shouts that they’re okay. Thank Irene for the innocence of children. 

Soon enough though Tommy is back to staring at Phil and Techno, daring them to say anything.

”You have to see him, if not for us then for him, he’s not well Tommy,” there’s a hint of desperation in Phil’s voice, and his eyes flit to Techno for support, “It’s gotten so bad since you’ve been gone.”

Tommy sets his jaw angrily, tossing his head onto the back of his chair. His head begins to ache with the start of the migraine from earlier. It’s really not worth the trouble, he thinks. He can practically feel his blood pressure rising with all of the stress.

His palms come to rub at his eyes, then he’s hissing at the pressure behind them, ”Even if I wanted to I can’t, not with the girls and the horses, it would take too long!”

“The horses should be fine alone here, and the girls have at least some brains don’t they?” Techno asks 

”Are you calling my kids stupid?”

”No! Like, they’re not just gonna mess around if something serious happens right?”

He bites the inside of his cheek as he thinks about the competency of the girls. They’re bright girls, he knows that. But they’ve definitely picked up his penchant for trouble. He pulls a face that is definitely picked up by the other two.

”I mean they’re smart,” he says quietly, “but they’re sadly just like me, why does it matter though?”

Techno tries to look hopeful, but Tommy can clearly see him biting the tip of his tongue, “You could always try the Nether, it’s quicker and we could go with you just in case.”

”No fucking chance!”

But, my dear, lovely, reader. There was a big fat fucking chance. 

The girls were absolutely over the moon at the notion of traveling by the Nether. They begged and begged to go, and Techno and Phil only made it worse. They assured that it would be fine, that the girls would be safe as long as they were there. After all they had taken Tommy in the Nether when he was far younger than them. Way to make Tommy believe they were a good family guys. 

Trying to push the odds in his favor he forced everyone to wait until the fire over the mountain pass had died down. And everyday for almost a week, the girls would force Techno and Tommy to go and check the fire. 

He didn’t mind actually going to check the fire, he just hated the fact that Techno had to go along with him. The unspoken words were painful, and no amount of small talk seemed to help. Even Techno couldn’t stand it, and on one of their travels to the top of the pass he finally said something interesting.

“What comes after this though Tommy, the whole reconciliation thing?”

”I don’t think I even want to reconcile, I know it’s gonna happen, but I really don’t want to fucking speak with any of you lot.” 

His brother gave a thoughtful hum and urged his horse forward, up the slope of the hill. The image of his back made Tommy pissed, he always had to be the first didn’t he. Whether it be in combat or everyone’s favor. 

There wasn’t any use on trying to grasp at the feeling though, they were older now. Things had changed, and while he knew he deserved to be angry at his brother, there wasn’t any point. So he urged Clementine up the incline just so he could be side to side with Techno.

”When this is all over, I think we might move closer to home, or have a vacation home near everyone at least.”

”I’m sure Phil would like that.”

”Not you?”

”You know what I mean, don’t push it.”

The air becomes crisper at the top of Menipha’s pass, and it makes it easier to breath next to his brother. 

The wide expanse of land that lays beyond the pass is scorched beyond recognition, and the smoldering corpses he knows belong to villagers make him just the tiniest bit sad. The girls had really enjoyed coming to visit, so he feels upset that they don’t get to anymore. Other than that though, he can’t really bring himself to care.

Tommy still asks though, as him and Techno stand watch at the top, “Was it really that difficult not to destroy everything?”

”No, but I did it because I wanted to.”

Ever the conversationalist Techno. Doesn’t even bother to look at him, instead shooting at a skeleton that aims down at them. The clattering of its bones as they fall and break apart sours Tommy’s mood. 

“What do you plan to do after you get home? More boring retirement?” Tommy asks, turning Clementine away from the remnants of death

”I don’t know either, there isn’t much to do other than cause problems, and that gets boring after a while.”

There isn’t anything else said after, and the sounds of rhythmic hoof beats fills the silence. 

Phil always sees the way they look when they come back, and even though the smile is usually directed at Techno, he still smiles every time they come back. 

“So, do you think we can leave soon?”

The kids look at him with eyes larger than saucers and Tommy sighs, shaking his head he finally says that they can all leave soon. Raucous cheers and shrieks fill the living room and his heart feels a little less heavy.

The next morning Tommy and the other adults are up before the sun. Preparing all of the things that they may or may not need for the trip.

”Tommy I promise you, we will not need any saplings, why don’t you go get some more fire potions instead?” Phil has to chide gently when Tommy tries to over prepare 

It works a little and Tommy stumbles off to dig through his assortment of potions, but he definitely brings more than just fire potions. 

“Those are turtle master potions, Tommy why do you even have those?”

”I saw some turtles once, so I made some.”

”We don’t need these, but alright mate.”

Techno volunteers to do automatic feeders for the horses, and to corral the chickens into their own area. Phil also volunteers to make breakfast for the girls. Tommy doesn’t know what to do with himself, and Phil suggests that he sharpen their weapons. 

So he does that, and that’s all he does for the rest of the morning. The sun comes up to meet them all, and kisses the metal of Lenka’s blade good morning. The blinding light brings him out of his stupor, and he’s greeted by the sight of Techno and Phil milling about the house while the girls sit at the kitchen table.

”Eat, we’re going to leave soon.” suddenly there’s a plate in his lap, and pink hair flies past as soon as it came 

Breakfast is good that day, it tastes different than usual, but it’s soothing.

The girls all begin to beg Techno to do their hair after he shows off his skills, and he looks over to Tommy for approval. Tommy just waves him on, and Techno is left to cautiously navigate the three girls temperamental hair.

The air still smells like smoke when they go out, but it’s nothing like before.

”Okay, now I will only say this once, do not fuck off!” Tommy’s tone leaves no room for jokes as he stares down the three girls, “Just because we have a ton of potions, and all kinds of stuff doesn’t mean you can mess around, understand?”

He can see the way Rooke has to clench her teeth to not say something back, and the twins both nod with excitement. Tommy guesses this is the best they’ll probably get from the brats. 

They’re off, after saying goodbye to the horses and towards a Nether portal Techno had built just the day before.

The inside of the Nether is jarring. He’s been away for so long that the fire and brimstone startle him, the sounds of shrill cries in the distance make his skin prickle. Deep down he has missed it, if he didn’t have to worry about the girls safety he would have probably gone off to have fun somewhere. 

“What the fuck-“ he hears Rooke whisper as she comes through the portal, and her wings flutter sending up plumes of ash, “Is it all like this?”

Phil and the twins come through just a few seconds later, and they both have the same reaction. A mix of disgust, fear, and awe.

“There are different biomes, like in the overworld, but it’s pretty much all the same shit.” Tommy comments, and trots over to a sheer drop

The lava bubbles with mirth, and he can almost swear it’s calling out to him. Tommy tears his eyes away, there’s a time and place for problems like that. 

“Let’s get going, we shouldn’t stay still for very long,” Techno says, pulling out a spinning compass and a strange map

”How the fuck is that supposed to help genius?”

”Im the human gps, don’t question me.”

Ominous, but he proves himself right, and after a long few hours of traveling Tommy begins to notice just a few landmarks. Well he’s not actually sure if he recognizes anything, because it all looks the fucking same.

There are a few slip ups, along the way, but there isn’t anything a few sips of potions can’t fix. It does nearly kill Tommy out of pure anxiety, when Wren almost slips and falls down a large crevice however. 

Techno somehow manages to catch her by the leg, not even needing to look away from his fucked up compass. She acts unfazed too, her face stretches into a smile so big it hurts and Techno tosses her over to Phil like she weighs absolutely nothing.

Apparently Tommy is the only one who has any fear.

”Son,” Phil says to his displeasure, “You would actively try to jump in lava, just so we would catch you, something like this is nothing.”

”Still not okay! What the fuck!”

For what might be hours they continue on through the Nether, and the girls at least consider his feelings, trying not to fall to their deaths. Rooke is a little less careful and uses the warm updrafts from the lava to fly. Tommy can feel himself aging by years and years. 

It’s his repentance for all of the pain he’s caused his brothers and father, he realizes now. 

“I still fucking hate you, but God-“ he whispers to Phil as he watches Techno snatch the annoying little bat away from a magma cube, “I am so sorry, I can already feel my hair going grey.”

Phil just laughs, loud and boisterous and knocks him over the head with a wing, he doesn’t take it personally.

When the heat becomes unbearable they keep going, just a little bit. So it won’t be so annoying to travel coming back, and the sulfur and lava cry out when Tommy steps through the portal they finally put down. 

It’s a love-hate relationship between him and the Nether.

The overworld is much kinder, and the cleaner air sets his lungs on fire after so long breathing in ash. 

The rest of the group don’t seem to care as much, but Rooke and the Twins do enjoy running around and throwing dirt at each other. It would be wrong to call them worms, so he doesn’t.

“Little worms,” he hisses under his breath

And then they travel a bit farther in the overworld, when Tommy actually recognizes a bit of land. The trees begin to have features he recognizes, and the earth beneath his feet melds in a path he’s definitely walked hundreds of times before.

Everyone is surprised when he gasps and starts to run, calling out to him as he slides to a stop at the bottom of a mountain. He knows exactly where he is, and launches himself up the mountain as quickly as he can carry himself.

”What are you doing?” Wren calls from the bottom, and he laughs down at her excitedly mans she looks at him as though he’s gone mad

At the peak he takes a moment to make sure he’s where he thinks he is. Considering the pros and cons of actually going down. Maybe he’ll get yelled at, or maybe he’ll get to see Lenka. 

It’s definitely the village, he can see Lenka’s house from here, and the other villagers mulling around doing their daily tasks.

”Come on!” He shouts down at his little group, who give him incredulous looks but begin to climb anyway

Rooke of course reaches him first and he begins to scramble down the mountain when the rest of them catch up. His shoes stir up rocks and he surprised that he doesn’t send a few boulders tumbling down with him. 

How long had it been? Since he’d been at the village? Years. Tommy was almost what, 24! It’s been so long, and as he skids to a stop at the edge of the village he can see Lenka. 

She’s looking directly at him, and oh, oh god she’s mad.

”Lenka! Wait!” He screams and turns the other direction, passing Techno and Phil who have finally caught up with the twins

”Tommy, you come here right now!” 

“No! Fuck you! Fuck off you hag!”

For such a short woman you’d think she wouldn’t be able to catch him, but she does, and she nails him on the back of the head with a stick. It hurts, sure, but he turns to snag her in a tight hug before she can do anymore damage. 

“I’m so mad at you boy, bringing children through the nether?” She grumbles against his chest while he spins them around

”Let me guess my stupid fucking brother told you?”

“Yes! Yes he did!”

The reunion is pretty much exactly as he thought it was going to happen. Lenka shouts at him the entire night, when she isn’t doting over the girls at least. She gives him the most shrill earful he’s ever gotten before. How could you this, why didn’t you listen that. He learns how to tune her out the third hour in.

Techno and Phil aren’t the most social, but they also seem to get along with everyone well enough. Lenka also gives them an earful, in private of course. Techno complains about her knowing so much, so Tommy spits at his shoes with a raised brow.

His brother huffs and walks off somewhere else. 

Lenka doesn’t let them stay more than a day, and sends them back off after fretting over the girls for the entirety of the morning.

The kids love her as soon as Lenka feeds them something good, so the morning they have to leave they groan as much as Tommy does, and beg to stay here with her.

”You have to get going! There’s still so much you have left to do!” The woman whispers as she holds them tightly. Tommy feels a little jealous with how fast they’ve taken to Lenka. Shows how much they appreciate him, jerks. 

“But Lenka, what if we just, didn’t go!” Rowan tries to suggest, “Then the old man can go and do whatever!”

”No, it’ll be a lot more fun if you keep going, and then you can always come back to visit,” she squeezes the trio until they’re all wheezing and trying to pull away, “But you have to be good, and not cause any trouble, then you might be cooler than your Dad.”

Lenka turns her gaze slyly up to him as she releases the kids, and he squints back at her as if he hadn’t heard anything. It might have been a jab at his pride but if it kept them from trying to jump cliffs he’d take it.

It wasn’t as if anyone could really be cooler than him. Hopefully. 

“Now get going, I don’t want to see you here for a long while, you hear me?” She steps over to Tommy and pulls him down for a hug as well

”You’ve grown a lot lion cub, me and Wilbur are very proud of you,” she whispers in his ear, and Tommy huffs and tugs on her hair to try and annoy her, she doesn’t falter, “I mean it boy, you should be proud too.”

”I am you idiot, why wouldn’t I be?”

”Shut up, I’m trying to be nice!”

Unlike the last time they parted there isn’t any tears, just a wave before their tiny group is off into another portal. Tommy welcomes the heat and laughs as the lava seems to welcome him back. 

“When should we be home Techno?” Phil asks as he keeps an eye on the girls who run amuck brimstone and fire

”Not long, give or take a few hours, but then we’ll be directly home.” 

Techno pulls out his fucked up compass again and they’re off once more. The pace is considerably faster this time, with the girls being somewhat more cautious. Terrain does eventually become more recognizable, and he begins to see some of the shitty bridges built by those who came first to the Dreamsmp.

Phil notices when his hands start to shake, and offers a sad smile. Tommy hates it, but it sets him at some type of ease.

The closer and closer they get though, it’s harder to keep his cool. The lava is screaming for him at that point, and his ears ring with the hum of its flow. He wants to throw up when the familiar view of the portal to Logstedshire shows up. 

“Keep moving,” he hears the monotone voice of Techno call upfront, “We’re almost there, don’t stop now.”

Tommy chokes in a breath and forces his way past the portal, and trots over to catch both Rowan and Wren who have nearly tripped into a pile of magma blocks.

It’s fine, he assures himself, puffing up with false confidence. They’ve made it this far, to break down would be a waste. 

So he doesn’t, and eventually Techno’s portal comes into view. He’s only seen it in passing a few times, but he can tell that they’ve finally made it.

Leaving the Nether is something he is glad to do, and his shoulders become lighter when the sun gleams off of fresh snow. 

“Welcome back Tommy, it’s good to have you here.” Phil chirps as he climbs up a few inches of snow

His boots melt the first few steps of snow, and his skin is warm from the Nether. The sky is forgiving here, and smiles at him kindly. Tommy gives in and chases after the girls who are carefully stepping in the prints Techno made for them.

They shriek as he scoops them up and sends them to the ground with him. Rooke uses her wing to dump snow on his head, and he doesn’t mind at all.

Inside of Technos cabin it’s warm, and the fire melts whatever snow their bodies can’t. 

“Ranboo and Tubbo should be out back, in the little shack.” Techno says as he plucks Wren off of the table

”You gave him a fucking shack?”

”He built it himself, I didn’t want to mess with it!”

Tommy calls out that he’ll be back in a minute, and turns to rush out the door. He doesn’t bother taking the stairs and hops the railing, and he runs to get to Ranboo’s ‘shack’.

There’s no shame as he pounds on the door once before he lets himself inside. And there he is, Ranboo sitting at the table wide eyed as who he probably thinks is a thief barges into his house. 

“Hey lover boy!”

Ranboo let’s out a terrified shriek but then he sees exactly who it is. Tommy backs away slightly when Ranboo stands to meet him, he’s gotten super tall since the last time they spoke. 

Ranboo only moves closer, and bends down to see his face better, “You’re- you’re alive, oh my god- Tommy you’re here!”

Tommy deems it safe enough to launch himself at Ranboo, who again shrieks directly in his ear, but reaches out to hold his friend. They both crash to the ground with a painful thud, but Ranboo refuses to let go. The taller man is shaking, he realizes then. Huh, people have missed him.

”Yeah, I’m back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it’s a little rushed but I had to get it out before I lost all motivation though, I’m very excited to do the dynamic between ranboo and tommy, because they’re not as close as Tommy and Tubbo were, but it’s still an important relationship to highlight!


	8. Of all the Flowers you Picked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you all take this as romantic I will strangle you to death, we are all going to appreciate a ‘healthy’ (strong emphasis on healthy because literally no one has any healthy relationships other than the parents and their kids) platonic relationship between bros who have been dead to the world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RANBOO MY BELOVED

The two of them don’t move for what Tommy thinks is hours. He’s tried to move and unlatch Ranboo from his body, but the enderman refuses. Tommy doesn’t bother again once he realizes that the taller is soaking his shirt with how hard he’s crying.

”Ranboo, I’m here-“ he murmurs as he looks up at the ceiling, running hands through the others hair, “I promise I’m right here, you can let go.”

Ranboo hiccups and shakes his head, and squeezes at Tommy tightly. It makes him feel bad, that he hadn’t come back home sooner. Maybe if he had come back sooner it wouldn’t have gotten this bad for everyone. Tommy will admit, even though it makes him feel guilty, it’s comforting to know he’s wanted, even after everything.

”You have to let go, where’s Tubbo? I need to see him too, I’ve also got so much to say, there’s people I want you to meet!”

There’s a pause in Ranboo’s sobbing, at the mention of Tubbo.

”Ranboo, where’s Tubbo?”

He should have realized Tubbo wasn’t here earlier, if he had been he would have come to check on the noise. Tubbo was supposed to be here, and unless he was just outside doing something, it was probably bad.

”Ranboo, come on, get up- Tell me where he’s gone off to.”

”He kinda, took Michael-“ Ranboo whispers hesitantly as he moves to sit up

Tommy forces himself not to cringe away at the very obvious scaring on Ranboo’s face. He really should have made him stop sooner, he’d forgotten all about what happens when he touches water.

”Michael? What the fuck is a Michael? Where’d he go Ranboo?”

”He went to Snowchester, said he had to keep up with production, he took Michael so I wouldn’t do anything,” he says trying to wipe at his face

This time Tommy does wince, and smacks Ranboo’s hands away, gently using his dry sleeve to dab at the remnants of tears. So Tubbo had used, whatever the fuck Michael is to go and fiddle with his nukes.

”Why didn’t you say anything dumbass? Also what the fuck is Michael?”

”He’s our kid, he’s a zombie piglin, I would have told you had I known you were alive!”

Tommy shakes his head, and grabs Ranboo’s hand, pulling him up and towards the door. He just barely thinks to grab the armor on a stand for Ranboo. His friend doesn’t even question before they’re darting off to Techno’s cabin.

”So we’ve both got our own kids!”

”You fucking what?” Ranboo screeches over the sound of the wind

Tommy laughs and doesn’t answer, launching himself up the railing and crashing through the door of Techno’s cabin. The sight of the girls whacking his brother with fake wooden swords is hilarious. 

He doesn’t actually care for Techno’s answer, but he asks anyway as he moves around to grab a random coat and Lenka’s sword, “Can you watch them? I’m going to go find Tubbo! Okay!” 

“Wait! No you can’t leave them wit-“

Hes back out the door before the pig can finish. 

“Yeah, I’ve got three!” He finally says to Ranboo, pulling his hand and sprinting in the direction of Techno’s portal

Even through the possible danger of Tubbo having a mental breakdown and blowing half the continent to kingdom come, its fun. Running with Ranboo. There’s a tremor in his hand at the sight of the portal but he leaps in anyway. It’s thrilling, to do something dangerous or if he stretches it enough, heroic.

“Where to now? Is there a portal?”

Ranboo tugs him in the direction of the main portal, and when Tommy squeezes his hand with fear, the enderman squeezes back gently. 

“You have three kids? What the hell!” Ranboo chirps as he guides Tommy towards the portal, “How did you become more successful than me?”

”I’ve always been more successful! Why the fuck do you and Tubbo have a kid together?”

”Tax benefits! We also got married!”

”You guys don’t have taxes!”

It’s a nice distraction, because as soon as he steps onto the portal platform Ranboo has to drag his stiff body into the actual portal. Tommy just decides to close his eyes, and Ranboo holds him just a bit closer. 

He repeats the thought of Tubbo, and focuses on the way Ranboo tugs him along. He’s pretty sure they pass by Sam on their way, but they’re gone too quickly to actually check.

Tubbo, worry more about Tubbo. 

“Why did he build Snowchester so close to everything?”

”I don’t know! Why’d you go so far?”

”Shut up!”

He’s being super heroic right now, as much as he had hated being forced to be heroic before, this isn’t so bad. He’s not being a hero just for other people this time, it’s nice to do something he actually wants to do. 

The path to Snowchester is annoyingly long, and Ranboo tosses him on top of the tunnel, saying something about running being faster. Tommy doesn’t question him and helps the other up as well.

His chest hurts with all the running he’s been doing, by the time they can see buildings fade into view. 

“Where is he?” Tommy wheezes and smacks at Ranboo’s arm

Ranboo doesn’t answer and scans the settlement. The enderman grinds his teeth and snags Tommy’s hand again, and they’re off towards one of the houses. 

“I’m gonna guess he’s in his house, or the weird weapons place.”

”Why are you not winded like I am asshole?”

”I’m just cool like that!”

There’s the shadow of movement in the window of the top floor. Ranboo and him skid to a halt in front of the door.

”Tubbo! You need to come outside!” Ranboo yells up, trying to open the door, it’s very much locked

There’s and angry sounding thud that comes from twist Tommy guesses is the basement, and the stomping of shoes becomes loud as Tubbo moves around.

”Ranboo! I told you not to follow me! I’m busy!”

”Sure! Then why’d you take Michael huh? But there’s someone you need to see!”

If Tubbo was in the basement who was on the top floor? Oh, Michael probably, that makes sense. 

Tubbo still doesn’t bother to come outside, and there’s the sound of clattering and what sounds like bits of glass breaking. Tommy wheezes, and Ranboo gives him a strange look, to which the blonde gestures to kicking the door. 

“No he would be so mad!” Ranboo whispers, and it makes Tommy want to kick the door in even more

Ranboo can obviously see it in his eyes, and tries yell as quietly as he can at Tommy. The man only sucks in a deep breath, and then another, before he backs up and sends a leg into the door.

The hybrid next to him looks faint, and the noises from downstairs pause to listen for more thudding. Tommy steals another breath and sends another kick to the door, usually he wasn’t this weak. It surely had to be an extremely strong door.

Tubbo sounds angry, and his voice gets closer as he yells, ”Ranboo! Stop it right now!”

Tommy gives the door a final kick and it swings open with a bang. Tubbo is silent as he begins to climb up what Tommy can see is a ladder. The tension is palpable, and as Tubbo’s head pops up from the basement he can practically taste the annoyance.

”Ranboo, I told you-!”

”Fuck off bitch, the home wrecker didn’t do anything wrong.”

Tubbo looks tired, beneath all of the anger. His eyes are purple, as if he’d been pummeled. He also looks frail, compared to Tommy’s build that is all lanky muscle, even he knows that’s bad. But he’s still Tubbo, and the look on his face is both priceless and unreadable.

Tommy is still panting, and has his hands on his knees as Ranboo stands behind him sheepishly. 

“Surprise!” Ranboo croaks

Tubbo just climbs back down the ladder without a word.

Tommy understands to a certain extent. 

“Tubbo, I’m actually here,” he says moving towards the hole, “Come shout at me or something, Ranboo cried when he saw me.”

Theres the sound of soft shuffling, the sweeping of glass, but Tubbo doesn’t utter a word. Tommy climbs down, and Ranboo steps cautiously into the house, climbing up to where he assumes is Michael.

”Look at me Tubbo, I came all this way just to see you.”

The goat hybrid looks pallid, still ignoring him. Guilt begins to tear at his chest as he watches the broom move back and forth. Maybe surprising Tubbo like this wasn’t the best idea. The swishing sound becomes unbearable, and Tommy doesn’t move to stop it.

”I’m not dead Tubbo, I’m right here, just look at me.”

“Shut up.” comes the hoarse whisper

Tommy reaches out to grab his wrist, and is smacked away with a surprising amount of force. Not everyone reacts to their best friend coming back from the dead he guesses. 

“You’re gonna have to come to terms with it later, but sooner is a lot better, because then we can both cry about it together.”

”Shut the fuck up.”

The silence is deafening, and Tommy realizes that Tubbo has paused his sweeping and begun to shake. 

“I have kids too, Ranboo told me about Michael, mine are all girls though.”

”Please shut up.”

”I met this woman, named Lenka before I got the girls, she kept me alive after I ran away.”

”Stop it.” 

“She loved hearing about you.”

Tubbo throws the broom at him, but it doesn’t get very far. Tommy picks it up and puts it to rest against the wall. Tommy comes up to grab his wrist again, and Tubbo trembles too much to shake him off. 

“I lived, big man, I lived and I’m right here.”

”You’re dead, you died, I grieved for you and I buried an empty fucking casket, and cried about it for months.”

”Dream beat me half to death and tortured me, but what’s your point?”

”I hate you, I hate you,” the goat mumbles, his head turned down to the floor, “You’re meant to be dead, you died.”

”I fought God and lived Tubbo, I came home.”

Tears glint against soft firelight, and they hit the floor with inaudible thuds. Tommy pulls in Tubbo for a hug that he can’t lift a finger to reciprocate. The skeleton thin goat hybrid lets out silent sobs and his hands clutch loosely at the fabric of Tommy’s shirt. 

“It’s okay.”

”It’s not okay, it’s not okay Tommy.”

“It will be, eventually.”

Ranboo comes to check on the two of them soon after, peering down while carrying a small piglin child. Michael, huh. Tommy moves to bring him and Tubbo to the floor, and the brunette buckles immediately. Ranboo gives him a watery smile and disappears back upstairs.

”I haven’t told my girls about you, sorry about that- but they’ll love you anyway,” he sighs out, and Tubbo doesn’t say anything in return, “The twins will probably get along with you really well, they’re rowdy like goats, I’m surprised they aren’t hybrids like you.”

More silence.

”My eldest is a bat hybrid, she looks just like me, it’s almost scary, she definitely isn’t anywhere near as tall though,” he rubs a hand on Tubbo’s back, “I think her and Ranboo will get along, and she’ll probably love Michael.”

“Why did you come back?”

”For you, if you can believe it.”

”I don’t, not at all.”

”That’s alright.”

It’s that for another few hours, eventually Ranboo comes down and joins their depressing dog pile. He does what sounds almost like a purr, and it’s comforting. There’s a little piece of his chest that’s been refilled. 

“I need to go home before it gets too dark,” he whispers to Ranboo, “I have to put the kids to bed, and probably talk to Phil and Techno.”

”Are you leaving again?” Ranboo asks quietly, as if he speaks too loud Tommy might bolt away 

“Not right now, but I will eventually big man.”

Ranboo hums something sad and goes back to his weird trilling sounds. 

Tommy has to pry himself away from Ranboo and away from Tubbo. The enderman looks half panicked as he goes to stand up, and moves to stand as well. Tubbo is fast asleep through all of it. 

“Wait, wait-“ half and half whispers, “Help me with Tubbo and I’ll take you back home!”

The blonde rests a calming hand on Ranboo’s shoulder, and silently moves to pick up Tubbo. The goat stirs just the tiniest bit, and Ranboo follows behind as close as he can. 

“You can relax a bit big guy, I’m not going anywhere.” Tommy says moving Tubbo to very carefully climb up the ladder, it’s more difficult than you’d think

”I’m not convinced this isn’t a dream yet, so just give me some more time please.”

There’s cobwebs in the corners of their relationships, he really needs to get around to dusting. Maybe everyone would stop freaking out after that.

Tommy lays Tubbo down next to Michael, as directed by Ranboo. He looks relieved to see the two are okay, at least in the whole being alive department. Ranboo grabs his hand as soon as they’re both out the door though, and his grip dares Tommy to let go. He’s happy to grip back just as tight. 

It’s slower than the first time, their walk back to the portal. It gives Tommy a chance to take in everything he’s been missing for years. Ranboo tugs him along when he idles and shakes with anxiety. 

The sky is painted with colors that he knows just have to be for him, and when it all dissolves into fire and dust he remembers where he is. He’s, this isn’t home, but that’s all he knows how to name it. When he stops to throw up his guts Ranboo doesn’t question him, and waits until he’s ready to keep moving.

Everything is so confusing now, he doesn’t even have a clear goal. Tubbo was the only reason he came back, but what’s going to happen after that? His brain feels like it’s boiling in the heat of hell. 

“I really don’t want to be here man,” he whispers as him and Ranboo finally come upon the portal to Techno’s place, “Makes my head all fuzzy.”

”I’m sorry Tommy.” 

The overworld air clears his mind enough, and the sizzling of snow against hot boots reminds him to breath. 

Lights and Laughter are there when the cabin comes into view, and he can see Phil playing with the gaggle of gremlins in the front yard. 

“Those are them, by the way.” Tommy tugs on Ranboo’s hand and pushes forward through the snow, “My girls, they’re little worm eaters.”

“Michael tries to steal any gold I have, I let him even though it’s not a good behavior to encourage,” Ranboo says 

Rooke hears them approaching first, and nearly knocks her sisters head off as she turns to face them. Her grin is bright, albeit a bit shy at the sight of a new stranger. 

“Dad!” She waves and tugs on Phil’s coat, and he turns to wave at them also, raising a brow at the two of them

Rowan and Wren tumble over each other to get to him first, they practically bark at Ranboo as they introduce themselves and shout for his name.

”-Rowan! And that’s Wren, and Rooke is the ugly one!”

”Hey!”

Wren pokes at Ranboo, her neck craning to look up at him, ”Who are you? Where did you and the old man go?”

Ranboo stays for a quick dinner, and can barely finish anything with how many questions he has to answer. Tommy’s glad he doesn’t have to carry the conversation tonight. 

As soon as the sun sets though, Ranboo is up and standing at the door, “I have to go, I have to check on my husband!”

”You have a fucking husband?” Rooke asks him with surprise

Ranboo squints at Tommy when he hears the curse, Tommy shrugs like he doesn’t care, “Yeah! He’s probably wondering where I am, but you can all come visit tomorrow, promise!”

The girls run off satisfied with the promise, and it allows Ranboo to pull Tommy aside for a hug. Tommy doesn’t let go until Rambo is ready.

”I felt so guilty, when you ‘died’, I thought it was my fault,” he sighs into the top of Tommy’s head, “Just promise me you’ll tell me if you’re leaving, I think it’ll kill me if you don’t.”

”I will, don’t worry, now you should go tell Tubbo that this ain’t some hoax, I’ll be by for lunch maybe.”

Ranboo’s tail comes to wrap around his wrist, and Tommy squeezes the enderman until he can’t breath. He gets the message and relaxes against the smaller.

”Now go on, get out-“

Tommy watches to make sure Ranboo makes it to the portal, and turns away when he disappears. 

He’s exhausted, and both Phil and Techno don’t bother trying to bug him with a chat. They let him pass and go to crawl in bed. His bones ache from running, and the mattress welcomes him like an old friend. 

He wakes up in the morning with feet in his back, and a wing covering his face. But the sun hasn’t risen yet, and he falls back asleep until the girls are awake and yelling to go and see Ranboo again. 

It’s a new day, onto another problem and another solution. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s super short yeah, but I thought that made it sweeter. I kinda liked this one, I’m not sure if it was too ooc, but still, I think Tubbo and Ranboo acted accordingly! Also if you saw any spelling errors? No you didnt, also if you see Tubbos name written as Stubborn then shut up


	9. I can see what you don’t say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small Rooke pov! I had some ideas, and thought I’d just go ahead and do it, and since last chapter was super short I decided to make another short one to make up for it!

Rooke wakes up to the sound of Tommy snoring, and she sends a wing directly into his face. He doesn’t even stir, but the wing blocks enough of the sound that she falls back asleep barely a minute after.

The sun decides to wake her up before she can get any more rest though. It’s bright, and blinding, but it feels good despite how annoying it is. 

Rowan and Wren are both already awake, and they’re staring directly at her. Fucking creepy, she thinks. They motion to wake up Tommy as soon as she meets their eyes, and she gives him a solid whack on the chest. 

“Wake up!” Wren says, forcefully prying open one of Tommy’s eyes while Rowan rubs the sleep from her eyes

Rooke sends another well aimed wing at Tommy’s chest, and he finally startles awake. She laughs when he moves to sit up and headbutts Wren on accident. And through his tired stupor he still manages to send a glare her way and she giggles. 

“Good morning!” Rowan almost shouts directly into his ear, “When can we go to see Ranboo and his husband?”

Tommy only flops back down and covers his head with a pillow. They all wait cautiously for him to get back up and start the day, but Rooke picks up the faintest of snores.

”He’s asleep again, god damn it-“ she tries to poke at his side again, but he doesn’t even move

”Let’s go see Techno, he’s outside I think,” one of the girls says, sticking her face up to the window, and pointing down at a small pink figure, “He’s, actually I don’t know what he’s doing.”

“He’s shoveling snow idiot.” the other twin says

”No he’s not, does it look like he’s shoveling snow?”

Rooke pushes herself from the bed as the twins argue and her Dad takes up the space she had just been in greedily. Somewhere she feels a little bad because she knows he’s tired, but she laughs at the way he’s spread out like a starfish.

”Just come on!” The little bat hisses after the argument goes on for too long, and the other two are quick to follow, “We can go and ask him!”

As soon as they make it out of the room and try to shut the door gently behind them, the entire house sounds like it’s being stampeded. Tiny feet thump against the floor, and down the stairs. Phil is there to greet them, with a very knowing look. 

“And where are you guys going?” He asks over his cup of tea

The three of them share a look before they turn to dart and put on their warmer clothes. Boots are are definitely shoved onto the wrong feet but none of them seem to care. Phil gets up to watch them from the front door and run out to Techno.

”Bye!” Rooke calls behind her as she shuts the door 

The twins snatch her arms as soon as she’s moving and then they’re off to peer at the pig. He obviously can see them fidgeting from their hiding spot, but he doesn’t comment. The three of them squint as they try to figure out what he’s doing. Maybe he is actually shoveling snow, but at the same time Rooke knows that he’s definitely not shoveling snow.

Rowan and Wren decide that they’ve had enough standing around, and do their best to step into the footprints made previously by Techno. Rooke scrunches her face at the thought of having to talk to Techno, but she flaps her wings a few times and follows after the twins anyway.

”What are you doing?” Rowan asks as they get closer

”Checking the soil, to see if I can work with it.” Techno is at least humoring them, and his tone doesn’t sound unwelcoming 

Rooke settles down just behind the twins, and peaks over their shoulders at the ground Techno has torn up. Maybe he’s going to plant something? Rooke isn’t sure, because she had always thought that you couldn’t plant in winter.

”Isn’t it too cold? Dad says that you can’t plant in the snow,” She musters up the courage to ask

Their uncle hums thoughtfully, and pushes some snow aside to show them more dirt, ”Well that depends, as long as the ground isn’t frozen and stays warm enough, you can plant a lot of stuff,” he grabs a handful of dirt, and holds it up for them to see, “Sometimes the dirt here is frozen, and other times it isn’t.”

He stands up and Rooke finds that she likes the way his jewelry clinks, it makes a nice sound. Techno points over to a small pond that’s frozen over, “The ground over there isn’t any good, the water makes it freeze too deeply.”

Rooke uses Wren to jump up, and her wings to the rest of the work. There’s snow that’s been obviously stirred up, and she can see the bits of exposed dirt are definitely frozen solid. That’s strange, but cool. 

“What are you going to do with the dirt?” Wren asks and swats away Rooke’s wings when they get too close to her head

”Plant stuff I guess, I want to try some different trees, maybe potatoes or carrots if they’ll take.” His gaze is a little misty at the thought of potatoes, the girls all giggle at the expression 

The twins seem less interested than she is though, and they wander off as soon as their attention does. Rooke doesn’t follow them even though she really doesn’t want to stay and talk to Techno. Her wings wrap around her shoulders for comfort, and she waddles over to see him anyway.

”So,” he says as he continues to dig up snow and dirt, “What’s up?”

”I don’t really like you,” Rooke blurts, and her eyes close immediately out of embarrassment, way to go Rooke, “Whoops-“

Techno laughs and it doesn’t seem like he takes it personally. She’s grateful, even if she still doesn’t like him.

“I can understand that, does Tommy talk about me like I’m a jerk?”

”Dad doesn’t talk much about you guys, but yeah-“ she reaches out to feel the dirt that he’s just tossed up, it’s actually a lot warmer than she had thought, “He doesn’t like you either.”

”Makes sense, we never really did get along too well,” Rooke can hear the way he omits some kind of truth, even if she doesn’t know what it is, “But he’s always been the best of us, so I don’t really care.”

Rooke and him don’t talk much more about Tommy after that. Techno just lets her follow him around as he digs up the ground, and she listens when he talks about potatoes. It’s fun, to learn something new even if she doesn’t like him. 

The twins are running around somewhere else, and she will occasionally hear the thud of a body in snow or excited barks from where the dogs are. There’s a loud scream that startles both her and Techno, and they both share the same worried look before someone shouts out that they’re okay. She still doesn’t like him, not one bit. Rooke does feel a little better that he’s watching out for them. 

“-potatoes are probably the best plants in terms of yield, and they’re the easiest thing to cook, they can never get boring,” Rooke is definitely bored of potatoes and how great they are, but learning about growing keeps her following Techno anyway

“What happened to Dad?” She decides to ask after some thought, and Techno pauses his rant

“I don’t think I should be the one to tell you, that’s more Tommy’s business kid.”

”It’s so stupid, he never says anything!” Rooke groans and kicks up a plume of snow, “I barely knew you guys existed! And then you all show up and everything changes again, it’s so annoying!”

Her uncle doesn’t say anything, and he flicks an ear as he tries to think. She can see the way his brain is turning to find an answer, and she sighs when he just goes back to digging.

”You guys act like I’m stupid, and I’m not!”

”We all know you’re not stupid kid, you’re just young-“ he turns to look at her and his eyes are just the tiniest bit soft, “Kids your age don’t need to be knowing about what happened, you should just enjoy the good stuff instead.”

She knows that this is a lost cause. Her wings give a very pointed and annoyed flap before she finally lets it go. Techno at least has the kindness to pat her head, and she doesn’t smack his hand away. 

“You’ll find out eventually, it’s bound to happen while you’re here, just give it time Rooke.”

Thats the end of that conversation, and Rooke decides that she’s done listening to him monologue about potatoes. So she’s off to hop in the direction of where the twins are yelling and the dogs are barking.

As soon as she steps into the shed every single pair of eyes turns to look at her. Rooke has to press a hand against her heart so she won’t start screaming. 

“What the fuck!” 

And then every dog begins to bark, and a few of the more rambunctious ones move to greet her. This definitely isn’t good for her anxious little heart. She takes it in stride, as much as she can at least.

The twins are happy to see her, and they wave from their own pile on the ground. Rooke forgets about how annoyed she is with the adults soon enough. The dogs and her sisters are fun. 

They all play for an hour or two, and Phil calls them in for breakfast just as they begin to relax. Rooke is pretty sure Rowan was falling asleep underneath one of the biggest dogs she’s ever seen. Or maybe she was suffocating, but she still got up when food was mentioned. Probably not suffocating then. 

Inside the cabin is warm, and Rooke can pick up the sounds of Tommy shuffling around upstairs. Breakfast is also amazing, maybe a little simple, but it’s still good. Tommy eventually wanders down the stairs with his eyes still closed. He looks really tired, and Rooke has to bury the feeling of guilt down. It’s not her fault that he’s so tired, it’s the other adults in their life.

“Good morning!” the twins holler as he ducks beneath the doorway

Tommy cracks open an eye finally, and gives them an amused smile when he sees them. He’s a little less tired she notices. She doesn’t yell as much as she usually would when he steals a piece of bread from her plate. He ruffles the hair on her head and moves to put on his boots.

”Where are you going?” Rooke asks trying not to show that she’s worried he’s going somewhere without them again 

“Just outside, check the weather.” He mumbles around his bread as he slips on his shoes, and he’s outside with a small wave soon after

Breakfast tastes a little bitter then.

Phil gives them all some type of tea filled with honey and sugar, but it doesn’t help as much as she wished it did.

Tommy starts yelling outside just a little while after he’s gone, and she can hear the sound of what she knows is a fist meeting a face. Checking the weather huh?

”Phil, I think Dad and Techno are fighting,” she tugs in his shirt as he walks past, “I can hear them yelling in the backyard.”

The avian glances down at her curiously, but moves to look outside. When he gets to the window and sighs, Rooke knows that she was right. Their family was all fucked up, maybe it was only a matter of time before someone got into a scrap.

Their grandfather assures them that he’ll be right back, and then he’s also on his way outside. She can hear the way he stomps as soon as the door shuts, he’s angry as well. 

“What’s up with them?” Rowan asks as she finishes the tomatoes Rooke hadn’t

”You know they don’t get along,” Wren says as she hoists herself up to look outside, “Old man always complains about them, says they suck.”

Rooke keeps quiet, and continues to listen to the three outside. She’s a little glad that she doesn’t know why they don’t get along, she doesn’t want to know what could make someone fight like that. The sounds of Techno’s jewelry doesn’t sound as sweet anymore. Tommy’s voice sounds hoarse and venomous, nothing like the father she loves.

When Phil and Tommy return they act like nothing happened. The girls can all see the blood on their Dad’s brow, the scrapes on his knuckles. They pretend that nothing happened too. Rooke calls it a kindness, so that they don’t injure Tommy’s pride anymore.

Tommy decides that they’ll go to see Ranboo soon. Phil says that dinner will be on the table when they’re back. There’s tension between the two, but it stays just as tension. 

Rooke knows, they all know that this is stupid. Nothing is said as to why. 

“Go get dressed, I’ll take you to meet Tubbo and Michael.”

Techno isn’t in the backyard when they go to the portal. Rooke can hear him stomping around in the woods somewhere. He still sounds angry.

Ranboo greets them at the beginning of a very large tunnel, welcomes them to the Dreamsmp and Snowchester. The name Dream makes her pause, and she looks over at Tommy. He doesn’t seem to mind, and tells them to follow after Ranboo. That’s weird, she thought Tommy was terrified of whoever Dream was. 

Snowchester is beautiful and the girls finally get to meet Tubbo. He looks sickly upon first glance, but he’s grinning ear to ear when they all come inside. He does give Tommy a strange look, but then he’s doting on the girls again, asking if they want snacks.

”So which one are you?” Rooke asks after Ranboo and Tommy wander upstairs to get Michael

Tubbo looks a little shaken at her voice, ”What do you mean?”

”Like, what did you do to Dad? What’s your damage or whatever?”

Rowan and Wren look uncomfortable, and they try to tell her off when they see how Tubbo looks upset. Rooke doesn’t exactly care, because this guy looks like he might actually tell her something. 

“Uh, well- I was the one who exiled him, if you know anything about that.”

”So it was you? Oh.”

Tubbo is about to say something, but Tommy and Ranboo both come back down carrying a Piglin child. Michael! The mood lifts as the kid sees these new guests, and they seem to forget what Rooke was doing when he squeals excitedly. 

There’s something that digs in the back of Rooke’s mind as they play with Michael though, and she can feel the way the adults stare at her. Why couldn’t she have been a little more ignorant? It’s worse to know something is going on, but not know the whole story.

She could really use a crunchy beetle right about then, maybe even a worm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk what the whole point of this was, maybe just me trying to show that kids see the problems their parents have, and that they’re affected by them too. I’ll probably start trying to wrap up da story soon too! And I’ve got some good endings in mind so don’t worry!!!


	10. How I’ve Missed You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly a Wilbur and Tommy chapter? Big plot progress though! The girls also get to explore the Dsmp some and learn L’manbergs history

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> looool don’t be mad besties :) I’m just having fun this chapter

Tommy can only appreciate that the girls don’t scream at him. He can see the way they’re looking at him, Tubbo, and the rest of their family. They’re too kind, and it hurts because he knows they’re doing it for him. He’s raised them a little too well, because even if they are gremlins, they’re polite gremlins.

Ranboo eventually takes all of them outside, to run and explore the rest of Snowchester. It’s nice to have less eyes on him, but that just gives Tubbo the chance to yell at him.

He doesn’t, and it’s painfully awkward. 

Tubbo doesn’t look awkward, if anything he’s doing whatever he’s doing on purpose. He doesn’t fix Tommy with an angry glare, and he’s not despondent like he was yesterday. He’s too chipper, and Tommy feels like if he breaks into an actual conversation Tubbo might kill him.

“They’re just like you, not just Rooke either-“ Tubbo says as he wipes down the counter back turned to Tommy, “They’ve all got the same personality, fiery, loud, like you.”

”Yeah, I’m proud of them, I just hope they don’t end up like I did,” Tommy tries carefully, trying to lead them in the direction of actually talking about what’s happened, “Speaking of-“

”Let’s not.”

Tommy snaps his mouth shut, and Tubbo still has not turned around to face him. The counter is more than clean by now, but the goat still wipes away nonexistent crumbs.

”What if I did anyway?”

”I would just stop talking to you.”

It’s just a circle of him chasing his own tail, Tubbo refuses to talk about anything actually important. Getting up from his seat at the table Tommy goes to lean against the counter. His friends face is, unreadable.

”Are we ever going to talk about it? Because you can’t just go and blow up everything, with nukes and your emotions n’ shit.”

“If I ignore it all enough, it didn’t happen.”

”Really? Is that why you didn’t come and see me in exile?” Maybe if Tommy makes Tubbo angry enough there’ll be some type of healing, he doubts it

It works just a little, and Tubbo pauses his wiping at the counter, “You know I was busy, the people needed a leader.”

”We were sixteen, they should have been their own leaders. Where were you when Dream gaslit me all to hell?”

”Tommy, just drop it!”

”Why did you only come to check on me when it was too late? You could have visited sooner!” 

Tubbo is shaking as he holds himself up on the counter, and some sick part of Tommy wants to knock him down. His fingers twitch at his sides as he watches his friend, and he feels satisfied when Tubbo actually slides down to the floor. 

“It wasn’t my fault, why didn’t you come back?”

”Because you told me not to.”

There’s a rag in his face, which he tosses somewhere in the corner of the kitchen. A match made in hell the two of them, pretty much destined to ruin the other. It’s so hard to keep the feeling of bitterness away, so he doesn’t. Tommy can feel the way bile rises up his throat, and the festering anger he’s kept at bay for years.

”You fucking left me to die, you gave me a death sentence Tubbo, so where’s my apology?”

”Where’s yours!” comes the shrill and very tired yell, “You did that to yourself! I just wanted peace! And you ruined that for L’manberg!”

“You failed L’manberg when you chose peace over freedom.”

Tommy let’s his head fall back against a cabinet with a thud, and the ceiling is more pleasant to look at compared to Tubbo. There’s cheers and happy yelling outside, over the dry sobs of crying. Tommy slides down to sit on the ground with Tubbo, who reaches over to push at his shoulder.

”It would have been better if you didn’t come back.”

“And let you kill everyone and then yourself? Fuck off.”

Despite how livid he is, Tommy pulls Tubbo to his side with an arm. Tubbo doesn’t pull away, and continues his hiccuping. They’re miserable and wretched, but they’re alive and together. 

“Where do you think you’ll be on judgment day?”

”Kicking your ass.”

The rest day is spent trying to hide red eyes and stuffy noses from the kids. Ranboo makes sure that the two of them get outside to see others. People are definitely aware that Tommy has come back, and they come like a pack of vultures to see him.

Interactions with people become a blur, and by the end of seeing everyone he’s sick of the apologies for not being there. He’s kinda glad Tubbo didn’t apologize, it wouldn’t have meant anything then. 

After that Tommy feels empty. Healing doesn’t happen in a day, he knows that. Staying here is dangerous though, and he feels like he’s going to be attacked every second he lingers too long. He makes it work, because the girls are finally beginning to get comfortable with the family. Doesn’t mean he is kind to the ‘family’ though. 

Away from the eyes of children Tommy gets into the age old habit of causing problems. He itches to cause problems, to act out and get petty revenge. Techno has learned to steer clear when he gets like that, it’s not that he can’t take Tommy in a fight, he’s just afraid to. 

Tommy just wakes up angry most days, and the sun boils his blood because it just wants to piss him off. 

Phil even has to step in one day, telling him off for almost breaking a cup by just holding it. Tommy smashes the cup anyway, and he can barely feel the glass that cuts into his palm. 

He starts to get nightmares again too. They’re horrifying, not because he’s being chased or hunted down, but because of how they end. It’s always Dream and him in Logstedshire, the two of them sitting in tnret. The dreams make him even angrier.

“You should come home Tommy,” Dream always laments, and Tommy can barely resist getting on his knees to apologize, “I’ve missed you so much.”

”You’re a sick bastard Dream, I’m not coming home.”

”I know you’re already here.”

It’s ingrained into his brain to not get angry at Dream, but he wants to scream and tear the man apart. Dream pats his head as if he hasn’t done anything wrong, and Tommy tries not to melt. He knows that this is dangerous.

”I’m not mad anymore Tommy, just come visit.”

He has to remind himself that this is a nightmare, it’s not real. But Dreams hand feels so warm and real that he’s not convinced it isn’t. 

“I’m not coming to visit Dream, go fuck yourself.”

The nightmare actually becomes something he can deal with after he tells Dream off. A mix of Dreams mask melting to reveal a gaping hole where his face should be, and a bit of being stabbed to death. It’s easy to become numb to that part, but when Dream holds him close as he dies? It’s hard not to cry and beg for forgiveness. 

Dream always accepts his apology.

It’s a cycle of crying for Dream and waking up fuming when he realizes how he reacts to even the thought of Dream. 

Tommy hasn’t been spending nearly enough time with the girls either, he can tell that much. They don’t complain though, they give him happy smiles and bare with him. He never shouts or gets angry at them, he makes sure they don’t have to deal with that too.

Ranboo almost always comes over to visit, and occasionally he’ll bring Tubbo and Michael. Ranboo is kind and does his best to stay out of the way, and usually watches over all of the kids.

Him and Tubbo get into a fight most of the time. They spit insults as easy as breathing. The insults only get worse and worse, until they’re having a full blown screaming match in the kitchen.

Eventually Ranboo has had enough and forces Tommy to take the girls somewhere else. Maybe show them the Dreamsmp or visit old friends he suggests, and Tommy can only do what he says.

Rowan and Wren are both very excited to be able to wander around, and they drag Rooke around every corner they see. Tommy is a little less angry when they look so joyful.

”Holy fuck! Dad what the hell is all of that?” Rooke yells every time she sees a building bigger than Techno’s cabin. 

Tommy finally gets a chance to explain bits of his past when the girls find the museum. He really lets Eret show the girls everything, and adds his own two cents whenever there’s missing information. He makes a mental note to talk to Eret about a few things before they leave.

But they finally get to understand the bits and pieces, even if Eret waters down some of the more gruesome moments.

”Tommy and Wilbur were both the original leaders of L’manberg,” that sends tiny betrayed looks Tommy’s way and he shrugs at their faces, it’s not like that was the most important thing, “They fought against Dream a lot of times before they finally won, but in the end they earned the right to be an independent nation.”

He listens to Eret’s heels clicking against the stone ground, and stops as they walk past the rendition of the final control room. It’s hard not to glare at Eret’s back, and not remember when she turned tail and sold them for an empty kingship.

His muscles tense with restrained anger, and the black stone and obsidian make his head spin. 

And then the anger is gone. There isn’t any point to lingering on something like this. So he moves to follow behind the ragtag group. 

“If you look to your left, you can see the Camarvan!” Eret sweeps a very elegant hand to the side, and the trio all let out sighs of wonder, “It was the biggest thing to really start the war for L’manbergs independence, and even if it was just a drug van it was home base to all of us for a very long time.”

”You guys made drugs?” Rowan asks 

Eret looks thoughtful for a moment, “Yes, but that part of L’manberg became less, how do I say, we eventually became more focused on the revolution than potion making.”

”Potions? I thought you all made drugs!” Wren says with a tilt of her head, “So did you make drugs or potions?”

Eret tries to actually give the facts, ”Potions.” 

”Drugs!” Tommy says very unhelpfully 

“Sure, let’s say we all made drugs.”

”I’m a chemist, biggest and best scientist there is, we definitely made drugs!”

Eret laughs and he looks kind behind the glasses, it makes Tommy miss her a little bit. 

“Maybe on accident you did Tommy.”

The blonde grumbles good-naturedly, and Eret lets out an amused sigh. The tour continues smoothly, and the girls are enamored with the story. The twins seem to like the parts about wars the best, and Rooke loves to listen to the more political side of things.

Its painful to hear history read out like a textbook, but it becomes bearable after a while.

“So Wilbur, he’s dead right?” Rooke asks as she points at the maps on the wall, “He did this first explosion, didn’t he?”

Eret gives Tommy a curious glance, Tommy just waves her on, “Yes, he did die after he blew up L’manberg, Philza who you know already, came to put him to rest.”

Its simple and easy to digest, and if the girls detach themselves enough, it might just seem like a good old history lesson. They at least don’t seem to bothered by it.

The rest of the time is spent answering any questions they have, and while it’s awkward it’s nice to finally get the details off his chest, and the girls all seem more satisfied than they have in a while.

”So you? Betrayed L’manberg? Why?”

”Well, I thought it would have protected everyone, they were only meant to give everyone a scare, but it was ultimately my fault it happened in the first place.”

Deep breaths, Tommy remembers to take. 

“I’m still working on fixing my mistake, but the people who were hurt by it aren’t exactly the most forgiving, and I don’t blame them.”

”I’d say some others forgive you, even if you’re a total fucking jackass.”

Eret sends him a surprised look, which melts into something happy. Tommy feels a little lighter, at the admission. It doesn’t fix all of the trauma and betrayal, but it’s still healing. Progress.

Eret offers to give the girls a more detailed tour of all of the historical sights, and Tommy says he’ll make time. He’s been wanting to see everything as well, he can practically hear L’manberg calling him anyway.

When they get home to the cabin Tommy can feel the way anger grips at him again. He decides that it’s best to sit outside instead of eating with everyone. The chilled air makes his throat burn, in the same way that your throat might hurt after screaming for hours on end.

His head hurts. The sounds of the girls laughter and Techno’s loud guffawing only make his jaw clench. Over all of the anger and tension he feels terrible. He can’t stand the way he gets angry at the tiniest of things. 

Tommy decides to run off into the woods somewhere. Just for a while. The creaking of trees is preferable to the noise of people anyway. 

He walks, and walks, and walks. He does actually know where he’s going, but it’s far enough to believe he’s nowhere near home.

The snow welcomes him when he finally stops and lays down. His skin feels a little less on fire. And the stars blink down at him sadly. He really doesn’t want any of their pity.

A shrill and ear shattering shriek startles him from his wallowing.

Sounds of carefully placed footsteps get closer, and the sound of heavy breathing does as well. Tommy isn’t worried or scared, maybe he is a little bit- but he’s more confused than anything.

”What the actual fuck?” He says to himself, and moves his head to look for whatever the hell just made noises like that

Really not hard to miss, once it finally reaches his view. Its a huge Elk. An Elk is less than ten meters away, and it’s fucking looking at him. It gives another shriek, and is at least quieter this time. But it’s definitely moving towards him. 

Tommy’s eyes are probably comically large at that moment. He really wishes he hadn’t walked this far from the house. The Elk finally reaches him, and looks down at him, with an actual emotion. Now that’s fucking weird.

It does the equivalent of spitting on him. He knows it just did. Tommy has to very slowly wipe overgrown deer snot from his face. The elk lets out another quiet shriek, as if it’s laughing at him.

“I’ll fucking eat you, I swear to god-“ he whispers and slowly begins to move away from the very sharp antlers that are angled down at him

This elk doesn’t seem to have any sense of danger, and even watches as he moves to stand up. It rises as well, to meet his gaze. It’s absolutely gigantic, laying down it was still huge, but now? A total behemoth of an animal.

Reaching what he knows has to be at least five feet, the elk is both majestic and terrifying.

”Hey buddy,” Tommy tries quietly, raising his hands cautiously, “I was just about to, you know- go somewhere else.”

Antlers angle down again, and Tommy can see his life flash before his eyes. The elk doesn’t charge though, and it doesn’t gore him to death either. It’s making fun of him, he realizes. 

“You ugly son of a bitch-“ 

And knowing eyes peer up at him, before raising to meet his gaze again solidly. The elk gives another shriek which sends Tommy stumbling, and covering his ears in pain.

”I thought you were a fucking fox dumbass, you know? Your whole thing was foxes, not a giant fucking nightmare horse!”

Wilbur, who he can now recognize, stomps a hoof into the ground. If Tommy had his sword with him he probably would have run the beast through just for the shock he gave him. 

“I fucking hate you, you are so stupid! What the actual fuck, you’re as ugly in this as you were human! Did you know how ugly you are?”

His weird and stupid ghost brother huffs in his face again before turning back in the direction of the house. Tommy doesn’t follow immediately out of spite. Wilbur turns back tilting his head very suggestively, and his antlers flash in the moonlight. Tommy would rather not have to deal with wounds like that.

”I’m gonna beat the shit out of you,” Tommy says and tugs on the scruff of Wilburs neck, “You’re so unnecessarily butting into things that aren’t your business!”

He harmlessly shakes around Wilburs head by the antlers, and his brother fixes him with an unamused glare. Animals that expressive are crimes against literally everything Tommy decides.

”Why’d you even come? You’re not even able to speak, would have been easier to deal with in a dream!”

“Oh wait you can’t speak-“

Wilbur shrieks to shut him up. Tommy very promptly closes his mouth and follows along. 

Their walk is a little nicer when he’s quiet. There isn’t any room for arguments as long as they don’t speak. Somewhere deep down he wants to argue with Wilbur anyway, just for the sake of causing problems.

He’s glad Wilbur can’t speak back. 

Phil is waiting outside when they finally reach the edge of the forest. His stupid hat is turned down as he leans against the wall of the house. Wilbur nudges him forward and this time Tommy doesn’t listen.

”Did you really just come to walk me home?”

Wilbur of course can’t answer but Tommy can see it in the way he pushes Tommy forward again. Against his better judgement he resists. Wilbur shrieks loud enough to wake Phil up, and that gets the younger moving. 

“Stupid bitch! I fucking hate you! Go die!” 

Tommy only moves faster when he hears the sound of very quick footsteps behind him. Phil definitely looks perplexed as he finally lifts his head up to see what all the commotion is about. 

“Get out of the fucking way idiot!” he yells before he gets to the stairway, and scrambling up the side of the railing

He can feel the graze of antlers against his boots and the angry puff of air against his back. When he turns around to face his brother, Wilbur looks amused as he stomps at the ground. Tommy sends a snowball into his face before grabbing Phil and turning to rush inside.

There is very pointed scratching and huffing outside which Tommy does his best to ignore. Wilbur isn’t dumb enough to bust open the door, right?

Thankfully he doesn’t and Tommy can catch his breath. Phil looks very confused as Tommy pushes around him to go and sit down.

”What in the fuck was that?” Phil asks and smooths out some feathers

”Big damn elk!” Tommy replies with a laugh, “I went on a walk and it chased me all the way back!” He doesn’t have to admit it’s Wilbur, that’s his secret to keep

“How’d you get away? It looked like it was going to kill you!”

”You know me old man, I’m the fucking best there is!”

“Yeah okay mate, I’m going to bed, Techno went out earlier for something, said he wanted some different trees to plant.”

Tommy grunts in response and leans his head back against his chair. As Phil passes there’s a hand in his hair and then it’s gone. The click of Phil’s door finally allows Tommy to relax. Fire lights up the room and the sounds of popping sap makes him warm up quickly.

In the distance he can hear the very obnoxious scream of Wilbur. 

He groans when he realizes that Wilbur is going to keep up with his screaming for hours. Tommy just decides to try and go to bed and ignore his brother as best he can.

It doesn’t work, it does not work one bit. Tommy is restless and tosses and turns every time he hears the ugly beast yell.

Trying to cover his head with a pillow only offers some relief, but it’s enough to ignore the noise. He breathes a deep sigh when he finally begins to drift off to sleep. It’s peaceful, and when he finally reaches actual silence and a dream it’s almost better than life itself. 

“Wake up bitch!” 

He’s underwater, but can very clearly hear the grating sound of his brothers voice. He stops struggling underwater out of spite, even goes as far as to cross his arms. 

“Get up you fucking idiot!” Tommy can see a hand that reaches down to grab at him, and he closes his eyes just to be annoying 

“I’m being serious, you need to wake up!” 

Tommy sputters as his head is raised above the water and he’s plopped on cold sand. Wilburs hand comes to beat as his back and Tommy can feel the way saltwater burns at his lungs. 

“You are so annoying, I’m exhausted Wilbur, all you did was fucking scream!”

There’s another pair of footsteps that Tommy can hear, and he hushes Wilbur who continues to yell at him to wake up. He can see the light reflecting off the mask before anything else. It’s haunting almost, the way Dream walks over to the two of them. 

“-you really need to wake up! You shouldn’t be here!”

Dream calls out which makes Wilbur freeze, and Tommy clutches at sand in fear, ”Tommy, why haven’t you come to visit?” 

He tries to look back for his brother but he’s gone. Tommy swivels his head around for good measure, Wilbur is still nowhere to be seen. 

“Well Tommy? Answer me!”

”Fuck off! Stupid prick, you ruin everything!”

Dream shakes his head in disappointment and Tommy already feels the sword he knows is going to end up in his chest. He tries to scramble away as Dream gets closer. There’s not any point, and as Dream gets to just before Tommy he draws his sword.

”I’ve asked you so many times to come visit, don’t make me force your hand Tommy.”

It’s a dream, a nightmare. It’s not real. It can’t be real, it can’t be. 

But why had Wilbur shown up? The dumb ghost only ever showed up when he had something to say. He usually told the truth. Dream’s blade looks awfully real too, so what if the whole thing was?

“I’m not coming to fucking visit! Go die dumbass!”

“I’ll give you one last chance Tommy, I’ve really missed you, just come visit!”

”No! I hate you! You’re the fucking devil!”

Tommy immediately sees the way Dream tenses up, and draws back his hand to drive his sword through his chest, “Fine, but don’t cry about it later.” 

He braces for it, already accepting the way it’ll still slide between his ribs like butter. The pain doesn’t come though, but there’s the sound of hissing that creeps into his ears. It explodes, and he opens his eyes to see Dream’s body being thrown through the air.

“Tommy, just wake up!” it’s Wilbur, he’s back and waving a hand in front of his face, pulling him to his feet

“Literally what the fuck is going on?” 

“You can’t die this time dumbass! You need to hurry and wake up!”

Tommy yells and throws his hands up in the air, ”How bitch! How am I supposed to do anything here?”

”The girls and you are in danger Tommy, just fucking wake up!”

”Real helpful, thanks a ton you fucking prick!”

In the corner of his eye he can see Dream begin to move again, and his feet lock in place. He really, genuinely looks like a demon. Skin is grotesquely peeling from bone, and his mask is broken to reveal an emptiness that stretches onto forever. If he listens hard enough, there’s a deep growl coming from Dream, it mixes with the roar of waves.

“Tommy, go- you have to go Tommy!”

Nearly choking on his tongue he pushes at Wilbur’s shoulder, ”Again! How am I meant to wake up?”

Wilbur pushes him back. Dream watches from a distance, still moving slowly to pick himself up. The two of them watch in anticipation as Tommy catches himself in the water. Both Dream and Wilbur move towards him when they see he hasn’t fallen in.

Wilbur reaches him first, and shoves his head back under water. 

He thrashes and tries to get away but his brother holds steady. It doesn’t seem like Dream is doing anything, and Wilbur drags him out to deeper waters. Tommy attempts to drag in a breath, to try and scream maybe, but his lungs fill with salt water. 

“Wake up Tommy, you’ve just got to wake up!”

He wants to wake up too, but he doesn’t know how.

”He’ll come visit me you know, now that you’ve let him live.” He can hear Dream hiss from shore

Tommy sucks in another pointless breath and chokes. Wilbur still holds him under, but brings a free hand to run fingers through his hair. It’s comforting, and tears mix with water as he continues to drown.

“Good, maybe he’ll kill you then,” Wilbur cradles his head and pushes Tommy farther down, enough so his back touches the seabed, “I can’t wait to see you in hell.”

He closes his eyes finally, and the sounds of water become mute. Wilburs hands are gone from his face and he can breath again. Wait, he can breath?

With a heave Tommy launches himself into a sitting position, and coughs and coughs and coughs. Sea water pours from his nose and he coughs some more. He coughs until both the seawater and bloody are coming from his lungs. 

“Fuck, god fucking damn it-“ he whispers hoarsely 

He can see the reflection of someone in the water and blood. Tommy jerks his head up to see his brother, not Techno but Wilbur. Not this dick again. 

Tommy gets up and wobbles over to the spectre of his brother who looks at him with worry.

”You fucker, you drowned me!” He gasps and pulls at his hair

Wilbur shakes his head sadly before moving closer to the younger and grabbing at his wrists. Despite everything, Tommy lets him. Even though his hands are ice cold and burn to the touch, he welcomes the feeling.

”What? Got nothing to say?”

His brother shakes his head and begins to drag Tommy from the room, and outside. It’s definitely confusing, but he still listens when Wilbur points silently to the roof.

”You want me to get up there? What if I slip and die?”

He only gets an unamused glare and is told to get on the roof again. Tommy climbs up anyway.

”Now what?” He calls down, but Wilbur isn’t there

He turns wildly to look for Wilbur, who is now on the roof behind him. Pointing uncomfortably at the snow below them. Tommy sucks in a sharp breath and then breaks out into a coughing fit. It looks like blood stains the ground, and it’s highlighted by the moonlight and snow. 

“Look.” Tommy swears he hears Wilbur whisper, but the wind sweeps it away before he can process

“Come visit me, I’ve missed you.” he reads out the crimson message

Then there’s a scream from inside the house, and Tommy’s own blood runs cold. Wilbur gives him a solemn look and nods to the house. He’s gone when Tommy blinks, and then he’s sliding down the side of the roof as quickly as he can. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided to kill off one of the characters! Can you guess who? :)

**Author's Note:**

> y’all ever think about lenka because I do.


End file.
